SANTA CLARA — Brock Purdy is established as the 49ers’ quarterback of now and the future.
And with his huge contract and consistently stellar play, Purdy has naturally evolved into his leadership role.
He said it all starts with holding himself accountable for carrying more than his share of the weight for one of the NFL’s top teams during his tenure.
“I’m just really hard on myself and expect myself to play at a certain level and there’s a standard that I want to continue to play at,” Purdy told NBC Sports Bay Area.
“And for me, if I can just go there and play at that level, everything else will work itself out.”
Purdy entered the NFL in 2022 as the 262nd and final pick of the draft, and faced no expectations at that time. After all, it would not have been a surprise had the 49ers cut him before the start of his first regular season.
Now, he is at the point where he can take on the responsibility of bringing his teammates along as he charts the path for the 49ers’ offense.
“When I first got into the league, it was all about, for me, learning the offense, learning myself, how I can get better and always accepting the coaching,” he said. “I still do that, but now I’m at a point where these young guys and the new guys that come in, I want to get them on track as fast as I can with the standard that we play at, the standard that they need to be playing at for our offense to move as a machine.”
Purdy, 26, showed those leadership qualities on the practice field during training camp. It was not uncommon to see him exhorting his teammates to execute at high levels and not repeat mental mistakes.
Most importantly, he aims to earn the respect of his teammates as someone who can be counted upon regardless of the situation.
“The biggest thing for me is building trust,” Purdy said. “When we’re out on the field and we’re under all that heat and pressure of executing and winning games, what it comes down to is trust.
“Can I trust you? Can you trust me to make the right decisions in the heat of the moment and do it over and over again, over a long stretch of a long season?”
Purdy said there is a deeper meaning to those times when he feels as if he must show teammates some tough love.
“If there’s a moment where I can call a guy out, it’s because I trust him and I love him and I want him to understand what it means to me, and vice versa,” Purdy said. “But I think there’s definitely a way to go about it. And at the end of the day, I think my teammates know that. They love it. I love being able to be honest with them, and they know that it comes from an authentic place in my heart.”
Purdy said his genuineness comes from all the years of experience as a starting quarterback — from high school to a four-year college career at Iowa State to this point in his NFL career.
“At the end of the day, you can be a guy that talks and stuff,” he said, “but you have to go and lead by example.”