‘I have to get better’: Purdy picked 4 times in loss

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Through his first 23 NFL starts, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy has had his share of bumps in the road, most notably including the torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow suffered in last season’s NFC Championship Game.

But Purdy had never had the type of on-field struggles he did Monday night against the Baltimore Ravens. Purdy threw a career-high four interceptions, including three in the first half, and the Niners finished minus-five in turnover margin on the way to a 33-19 loss that dropped them to 11-4 on the season.

“He’s played this long, he never had a game like this,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said. “It’s pretty unusual. That’s the reality of the NFL. I’m not saying it’s bound to happen but wish he didn’t have as many picks today.”

Purdy finished 18-of-32 for 255 yards with no touchdowns for a passer rating of 42.6, the worst of any start in his career. His night ended early when he departed in the fourth quarter after sustaining a left shoulder stinger.

By the time Purdy reached his postgame news conference, he was already pondering how things went awry against the Ravens and how he’d bounce back from such a rough outing on Sunday against the Washington Commanders.

“It’s the NFL,” Purdy said. “We have some opportunities coming up and we still got two games left in the regular season before we get into playoffs. For me, (I’m) trying to look at the big picture of what we’re trying to do, what our team goals are, but at the same time I have to look myself in the mirror and ask myself why or how that happened and why I made those decisions? Our team came ready to play and for me to make some decisions like that … it’s not fair to these guys. I have to realize that and understand that and I have to get better for my team.”

Purdy’s night started well enough as his third pass of the night was a strike to tight end George Kittle for a 58-yard gain to Baltimore’s 28. He followed with another 13-yard strike to Kittle. It was mostly downhill from there.

On first-and-10 at Baltimore’s 15, Purdy attempted to force a pass to wideout Deebo Samuel that Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton stepped in front of for an interception.

Purdy said he thought Samuel had flashed open but he should have continued through his progression and checked the ball down instead.

“I thought the first one was the big mistake,” Shanahan said. “And the other three were pretty unfortunate for him.”

Each of Purdy’s three other interceptions came with some sort of hit or deflection from the Ravens defense. The second pick was deflected into the waiting arms of Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey. The third came when Purdy attempted to make something happen on a throw for Kittle during a scramble drill after running back Christian McCaffrey had been flagged for a chop block.

Purdy said he was aware of the flags and had a feeling it was on the offense, terming the decision to try the throw across his body “very dumb” because he made a bad situation worse with the interception.

That made Purdy the first to throw three interceptions in the first half in a game this season and the first 49er to do it since Nick Mullens in 2018. Purdy’s four-interception outing was the first by a 49ers quarterback since Colin Kaepernick did it in Week 3 of 2015 against the Arizona Cardinals.

Things went from bad to worse with 8:19 to play when Purdy took a sack from Ravens pass rusher Jadeveon Clowney. Purdy briefly departed last week’s win in Arizona with a stinger and had a similar pain when Clowney took him down on the play. He jogged off the field and quickly headed to the blue medical tent as Sam Darnold replaced him.

Purdy could potentially have returned to the game but Shanahan opted to keep him out in large part because the Niners offensive line was down three players, including starting left tackle Trent Williams (groin) and left guard Aaron Banks (toe).

“I know he’s disappointed not being able to finish it there, but getting that stinger again, I just wanted to keep him out of there,” Shanahan said.

Williams injured his groin attempting to tackle Ravens linebacker Patrick Queen after Purdy’s fourth interception. Despite his best efforts, he did not return to the game and is scheduled for an MRI on Tuesday. Williams declined to speak at length after the game but told reporters in the locker room “I’m good … I’ll be all right.”

Purdy’s career-low 42.6 passer rating followed a six-game span in which he had a 138.1 rating, which was the highest passer rating in NFL history over a six-game stretch, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Now, Purdy will have a short week to bounce back on Sunday against the Commanders. The one silver lining the Niners were quick to point out after Monday’s loss was that they still control their NFC playoff positioning.

Two wins (against Washington and the Los Angeles Rams) or a win and some help would give the 49ers the NFC’s No. 1 seed and homefield advantage.

But first, they’ll get a look at how Purdy bounces back following the worst outing of his young career.

“I got to ask myself, all right, ‘who are you?'” Purdy said. “What do you stand for? Who are you when things are good? Who are you when things don’t go your way? It’s easy to be riding high and thinking you’re the man when things are going well, winning games and all that kind of stuff. And you don’t really see a whole lot of adversity in some games and whatnot, and this is the reality of the NFL.

“I obviously have to look myself in the mirror, watch the plays ready to get better, make some cleaner decisions, help my team put up points and score and protect the ball. And when things don’t go my way, it’s understanding I can’t be acting out. I have to be real with myself and be better, but I want to be the same guy every day. I want to be consistent in what I do and how I do things, whether things are going well or not, I know who I am and I’m not going to waver from that.”