On Monday, San Francisco 49ers linebacker Fred Warner praised his rookie quarterback, Brock Purdy, now the team's starter. The Niners inserting the seventh-round draft pick into the offense hasn't shaken the players' confidence that a Super Bowl remains within reach.
Warner had some words for doubters who feel that the 49ers can't achieve their goal with the last overall draft pick under center.
"It's such an unlikely story to have Mr. Irrelevant come in, lead the Niners to a Super Bowl," Warner said. "I think that's what everybody's going to write us off on, and that's fine. If that's what everyone wants the narrative to be, I'm completely fine with that. I'm so completely laser-focused, just like I know the team is, on taking this thing one week at a time."
Another 49ers linebacker, Dre Greenlaw, shared similar comments during a Tuesday-morning interview on KNBR. The fourth-year defender also has a lot of confidence in his rookie quarterback.
"As you've seen, Brock Purdy came in, and ever since he's come into the league, we've just kind of had this respect, this weird thing about Brock," Greenlaw said on the Murph & Mac show. "Brock just gets stuff done. He's an athlete. He plays with a swagger. He just knows how to get stuff done, so I can't wait to see the way he steps in and just the ball that he plays."
Greenlaw knows a thing or two about Purdy's work ethic. The two are locker neighbors, after all.
"I just know the preparation that he puts in," Greenlaw shared. "He's always ready to go. Like I said, Brock is just a baller. We've been going against him for 13 weeks-plus, since he's been here, and he's shown us every day that he can get it done."
The 49ers lost starter Trey Lance in Week 2. No one wrote them off because they had Jimmy Garoppolo ready to step into the lineup. Then Garoppolo went down on Sunday against the Miami Dolphins, leaving QB3 set to step into the QB1 role. Don't tell the 49ers they can't win the Super Bowl with Purdy at the helm.
"That's the goal. I know we can," Greenlaw declared. "I don't think anybody has lost faith in what we're able to do. I don't think nobody really even just thought about it. I think everybody is just so focused in and lasered in on trying to go 1-0 the next game that we don't think we don't even have a chance. We're just kind of coming in with all the faith possible, and once we get on the field, we'll be able to get the job done."
Purdy's locker-room neighbor didn't have any doubts about the 49ers' chances when he saw the rookie quarterback step onto the field in a big game against the visiting Dolphins.
Said Greenlaw: "I knew that, once I found out that he was in the game, man, I could just tell, once I took a look at him, and he scored that first touchdown to [fullback Kyle Juszczyk], I knew that the hype, the determination, everything, the swagger that he had, I knew he was ready to go. If he can keep slinging that thing, you best believe we can make it to the Super Bowl."
You can listen to the entire conversation with Greenlaw below.
