Brock Purdy explains how Trey Lance was his most helpful teammate as a rookie

49ers quarterback Brock Purdy joined Jason and Travis Kelce on their “New Heights” podcast to talk about the draft process, the Niners, and everything in between.

Purdy said he didn’t expect to get drafted during the first two rounds, but said San Francisco called him before the start of the seventh round to say they were selecting him:

“I was waiting all day for a call. The Niners had called me before the 7th round saying, ‘hey, we have one more pick.’ And I went on my phone, googled it, and saw it was the last pick and said, ‘ah man, I’m about to be Mr. Irrelevant.’”

Brock said he wears that title with honor now, and even said some former Mr. Irrelevant’s have hit him up. But this isn’t a scenario where Purdy is playing with a chip on his shoulder after being the last pick in the draft where nine other quarterbacks were taken in front of him:

“I have more of the grateful mindset and view of it. Not that I’m going to write all of the quarterbacks names that were taken before me and remember. That works for some guys.” After Jason Kelce interjected and asked whether Purdy remembered all of the quarterbacks, Brock smiled, and kept conversing.

They bounced around from topic to topic, but the best quote came when Jason asked Brock what the best trash-talking moment had been since he entered the league. When a player talks trash to you, your game either goes to another level or you shut down. Here’s what Brock said:

Watching Purdy attempt to out athlete the best athletes in the world last year was as “welcome to the NFL” as it gets.

Purdy went back to his first appearance against the Dolphins, when he was asked if he was nervous.

“During the first drive, Jimmy’s moving down the field and doing great. And they’re like, hey Jimmy’s out for this drive, you gotta go in. So, I’m thinking, ‘OK, I just have to go in this drive and do my thing. Get Jimmy all right, and have him come back in.’

For me, it was like, I just have to do my part. Make the right checks. Make the right throws. Then after that series, they said, ‘hey, he’s out.’ So, I’m like, OK, I have to find a way to win this game. And not by doing anything crazy. Just do my job. Do what they have coached. Just make plays from there.

It’s funny, they just all out blitzed for the rest of the game thinking, ‘hey, it’s a rookie QB.” So, sweet, I’ll just get the ball to Kittle and the rest of the guys and have them make plays. But I didn’t want to make it more than what it was.

Shanahan’s system is such a great system. We have great run balance and pass game. All I have to do is do what we’ve been doing in practice.

Iowa State isn’t quite the old school Air Raid, but it’s close and has plenty of Air Raid principles. Purdy spoke about the difference in his college offense to grasping Shanahan’s playbook:

“It’s pro-style, man. You go under center a lot more. You have a lot of play-action pass. The run game ties with the pass game and it sets things up. To me, man, as a quarterback, I love it.

In college, you’re in shotgun, you’re signaling plays in. Defenses can pick signals, so they know sort of what’s coming. But here, it’s a chess match.

To be able to learn from a guy like that and to have my eyes open to what real football is, it’s a blessing. I love playing quarterback in his system.”

Purdy said Kyle is leading the QB room after practice and going over all the fine details, so Shanahan is as hands on as it gets. Brock said, “it’s a blessing having him break down everything for us.”

Here’s Purdy on the biggest difference between college and the NFL:

“Just the mental part. In college, you’re playing Texas and Oklahoma. These schools that have big dudes. They’re fast. They’re tall and that kinda thing. It’s the same thing across the board.

But in the NFL, the mental part. The preparation. Walking up to the line with two plays on. And getting to the right play. Now that you’re in the right play, OK, what are my match ups? What’s the coverage? All of that stuff is in effect.

I think that’s definitely what separates guys from being average to being great.”

When asked who was his most helpful teammate, Purdy didn’t hesitate:

Trey for sure. Trey Lance. Him going down in the season, then him being in every meeting helping Jimmy and myself. When I got in, Trey was right there with everything. Just with advice, I couldn’t appreciate it more.

And then George Kittle. He’s awesome. I’m a serious guy. I like to make sure I’m doing my thing and I don’t want to mess up for my teammates, so I’m all serious. But Kittle brings so much joy.

You’re playing in the NFL, you get to have fun with it. He just has a good perspective, and I’ll always be appreciative of that.