49ers QB Brock Purdy Explains Why He Throws Lots of Picks in Practice

Purdy usually makes excellent decisions during games, which is why his poor practice decisions are surprising.

Jul 26, 2024; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy (13) walks the practice field during Day 4 of training camp at SAP Performance Facility. Mandatory Credit: D. Ross Cameron-USA TODAY Sports / D. Ross Cameron-USA TODAY Sports

Brock Purdy had a rough couple days in training camp this week.

He threw seven interceptions combined on Monday and Tuesday. Which seems shocking because he's such a good quarterback, but he frequently throws interceptions in practice. On Wednesday, he discussed why on KNBR.

"It's a fine line," Purdy said. "You want to go out, you want to be efficient, you want to go through reads, and obviously protect the ball and whatnot. But right now is the time for us to go out, and you always hear the quarterback say experiment, but that's really what it is. Can I fit it in this window on this hitch? Can I look off Fred Warner or Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles or LB De'Vondre Campbell in a certain way and then make that throw backside? You gotta try it out.

"In the game and in the season, it comes down to protecting the ball every snap, every play, so you can't necessarily try those things out. Right now, we can, and so my mindset right now is protect the ball, but let's be aggressive. Let's try this out. Let's figure it out.

"And so, obviously, I want to go through my reads, check the ball down, and work on that as well because that's real, that's football. But there's a time and a place where I'm like, 'Hey, you know what? This is practice, and I'm going to drop back and try this out.' And then you figure out [whether] it could be a part of your game or not for the season."

Purdy makes excellent points and is right about most of what he said. He does need to test the limits of what he can do. But he doesn't need to practice making bad decisions. It's not OK to practice forcing the ball into double coverage. That won't make him better. It only will create bad habits.

Purdy usually makes excellent decisions during games, which is why his poor practice decisions are surprising. But in his defense, he made excellent decisions on Wednesday and threw no interceptions. So maybe he's improving.