Brock Purdy and the 49ers fell short of expectations during the 2024 NFL season, but franchise legend Joe Montana doesn’t anticipate much of the same from San Francisco’s star quarterback in 2025.
Even Purdy himself has admitted he was doing “too much” last season as the team’s playoff hopes faded and injuries soared, and that’s exactly why Montana has faith in the signal-caller returning to form this year.
“Obviously Christian [McCaffrey] coming back is a huge plus for that offense,” Montana said during “The Pat McAfee Show” on Tuesday. “[It] takes a lot of pressure off the quarterback, and I think [Purdy was] feeling the pressure where he felt like he had to do and contribute more instead of just going and doing what he’d done for his whole life and just be yourself. And we always have that tendency that we want to make the change and make it quick, and now we got to make something happen. And so I think he just got caught up in that, and I think you’ll see a different player coming up this year. …
“I really like [Purdy]. He usually doesn’t make a lot of mistakes and he’s careful with the football. He’s got great placement of it … and I just think he’s got the right demeanor. And you know, everybody has those kind of years. I had them. Everyone — you can go to and look around at anybody, [Tom] Brady, everybody. When injuries start taking place your whole team changes, and then the quarterback it seems sometimes that it all rides on their back … So they start doing things they wouldn’t normally do. But I think he’ll be fine.”
The 49ers made Purdy the highest-paid player in franchise history this offseason with a five-year, $265 million contract extension — and both the team and fans alike expect him to live up to his payday.
To do so, Purdy knows he must go back to the basics that got him to this level in the first place. He told Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer last month that he worked with 49ers offensive coordinator Klay Kubiak and quarterbacks coach Mick Lombardi to focus on going through his progressions and correctly syncing his feet up with the play this spring after watching last season’s tape.
“I would say I was frustrated about losing the Super Bowl, and it was like, ‘All right, we got to get back,’ ” Purdy told Breer. “That’s all I saw, was getting back. And because some of those guys are out, I have to go make plays to get us back. And for me, I was losing sight of, ‘Bro, keep every play as simple as possible, and don’t complicate it.’ And you will get back if you do your job the right way, every single drive for four quarters, and you win the game.
“At times, I lost sight of that. I was trying to do too much.”
The 49ers enter Sunday’s 2025 season opener against the Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field close to full strength, and they certainly hope things stay that was as the campaign progresses. But both Purdy and Montana know that even if injuries occur, a proper mindset under center is key to winning games.
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