San Francisco tight end George Kittle says it only took a few moments for him to see that the 49ers could go far with Brock Purdy at quarterback.
On PFT Live today, Kittle explained exactly what he saw from Purdy that let him know Purdy could play.
“In chronological order, there were three things that happened: First, in OTAs, I lie to throw jabs at rookies, see how they are, like are you going to jab back? Are you confident in yourself?” Kittle said. “Brock would fire back at me and zingers. Like, OK, Brock, I love it. I like that confidence.”
Kittle also loved a pass that Purdy threw in the preseason.
“In the third preseason game against the Houston Texans, he throws a laser right down the middle of the field,” Kittle said. “Beautiful pass. I was like, that’s an NFL pass. That’s a quarterback who can play in the NFL.”
And when Jimmy Garoppolo was injured in the regular season against the Dolphins, Kittle said Purdy showed he belonged from his very first pass.
“And then, he gets a shot against Miami, and the very first play it’s cover zero, he delivers. A guy who can do that under pressure and doesn’t flinch, he can win games,” Kittle said.
Kittle believes that if Purdy hadn’t been injured against the Eagles in the NFC Championship Game, the 49ers might be in the Super Bowl.
“If Brock doesn’t get hurt, I feel confident in my team,” Kittle said. “I’m not going to guarantee victory, but I feel confident.”
