San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy is getting ready for the 2025 season, and he is doing so with an unlikely familiar face: former 49ers quarterback C.J. Beathard. Both Purdy and tight end George Kittle were seen training in Nashville with Beathard this past week.
Beathard and Kittle training together makes sense, since the two were teammates in college at the University of Iowa and were teammates again on the 49ers. But it is cool that Purdy decided to tag along and get some extra reps in, even if he went to the rival Iowa State.
#49ers QB Brock Purdy linked up with CJ Beathard and George Kittle in Nashville to prep for training camp together 🔥 pic.twitter.com/c2YfjoFFYx
— OurSF49ers (@OurSf49ers) June 28, 2025
Purdy spotted training with former 49ers quarterback C.J. Beathard
The 49ers selected Beathard, a Tennessee native, in the third round of the 2017 NFL Draft. He was the first quarterback ever drafted by head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch after they took the reins in San Francisco.
He started 12 games for the 49ers and showed some promise at times while also proving his toughness after taking a beating repeatedly. In his career with San Francisco, he threw for 3,469 yards in 19 total games with 18 touchdown passes compared to 13 interceptions. Ultimately, he left a hard-to-swallow legacy with the Niners.
We recently took a look at where every former 49ers quarterback under Kyle Shanahan currently is in the NFL, but Beathard is one without a home. Most recently, he was with the Jacksonville Jaguars, serving as a backup to Trevor Lawrence.
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The last NFL action Beathard saw was in 2023 with the Jaguars when he completed 40 of his 53 passes for 349 yards with one touchdown pass and no interceptions. While he is currently not on a team, it would make sense for a team to sign him and let him compete for a backup role, or at the very least, sign him to the practice squad. Maybe even the Niners can bring him back as an insurance option.
While it is a little weird to see Purdy and Beathard training together, given the fact that they conjure memories of very different times during the Shanahan era in San Francisco, it actually makes sense that they are together. In a roundabout way, the 49ers drafting Beathard led to them drafting Purdy.
When Beathard left the 49ers and signed with Jacksonville back in 2021, the 49ers received a compensatory draft pick, which was the pick they used to select Purdy in the 2022 NFL Draft. So, in a weird way, if the 49ers end up winning a Super Bowl with Purdy under center, fans will have Beathard to thank for it.
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