Shanahan is buddies with Simms, and revealed what he likes about Mr. Irrelevant.
Signs point to Brock Purdy returning to the 49ers in time for Week 1 in Pittsburgh. This is the best-case scenario for the 49ers, as it would mean Purdy has had no setbacks and is the same quarterback from 2022 that won eight straight games.
Whether or not things go according to plan (do they ever for the 49ers and the quarterback position?), Purdy’s return has sparked a conversation about his 2023 outlook.
Chris Simms joined Rob Guerrera of Gold Standard Podcast Network to discuss his thoughts on the quarterback position for the 49ers.
Rob asked about Purdy and his experience as the season went on:
Rob: I felt like the longer the play went with Jimmy Garoppolo, the scarier things got. I don’t feel that way with Brock, and the one thing I think that has some 49er fans worried with him is it seemed like the longer he played, I don’t want to say the more he struggled, but I felt like defenses adjusted a little more, they knew he liked to bail out to the left a lot of the time, Brock himself even said he would be a lot of some clean pockets when he didn’t need to. It was like the longer he got in there he got more comfortable, and kind of deviated from what Kyle was telling him.
Simms: Well yeah he’s young, he’s learning on the fly, it’s not an easy situation, you know I think like you said I don’t care who you are once teams start to get three or four games of film on you, you know there’s little habits that you form the teams start to get, oh that’s where he likes to throw here in the situation, he likes to move here in the pocket he likes to spin out this way so that makes life harder, but Shanahan is the master of keeping people off that type of stuff.
Listen, this is where the things Shanahan has told me about this guy is that he’s always looking to get better and adjust and tweak and evaluate himself to fix the things that might be an issue on a weekly basis. So, he’s not perfect, but you know I think there’s enough talent there and a love for the game and a knowledge that Shanahan and the 49ers go, wait we see something here we can work with this guy. Definitely, do I wish you would tighten up as motion throwing the football a little bit, certainly? You know, were there a few games here and there where I go, oh he’s gotta go get a little bit better at throwing the ball outside the numbers, he’s better than Jimmy Garoppolo but he can get a little bit better.
Some of that sure, throwing the ball with a little bit of power, and did he miss some throws? Think about the Seahawks game early on, first half the 49ers left 10-14 points on the board, and he missed wide-open receivers, so there’s some things about his game that need some polish, but things that I look and go I think you can do it he showed me enough that he can do it and then when I hear from Shanahan and other people around San Francisco is it made of the right stuff to make those corrections to get better.
Rob: So, clearly you’ve talked to Kyle about this. Do you get the sense that Brock is their guy, they are all in and that’s what they are going to do going forward.
Simms: I do. I don’t think Kyle would have any issue with me sharing that, now again like it doesn’t mean crap, I know Kyle believes in him, I know that, yes he told me and I think he sees a lot of specialness about the guy, but just because he sees that and then we get into you know week five and he’s throwing interceptions and doing dumb stuff, but we know one thing about the Shanahan’s and Kyle Shanahan too. He ain’t afraid to make a tough decision and do what he’s gotta do and go to somebody else and rip the Band-Aid off and go OK I know you know the public might get on me here, but I gotta do this to make it happen, so and that’s where Sam Darnold comes into the conversation with Brock Purdy and how quickly you know, he can get up to full speed and throw and play to his top abilities once again.
It appears Kyle is talking quarterbacks with his pal Chris, again. From the sound of these quotes, as much of the offseason quotes have indicated, it’s Brock’s show.
Here’s the link to the full interview:
About the Author: Insidethe49
