Brock Purdy isn't too worried about the seven interceptions he threw during Monday's and Tuesday's practices. Notably, the San Francisco 49ers quarterback didn't throw a pick in Wednesday's session. However, some in the media have expressed concern about those earlier practice mistakes.
Purdy acknowledges that playing mistake-free football is always the goal, but practice is a time to be more aggressive and test boundaries that wouldn't necessarily be pushed in games. This approach can lead to more errors as players explore their limits.
"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," Purdy said during a radio interview this week. "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."
One former NFL quarterback turned analyst somewhat agrees with Purdy's logic but still finds seven interceptions in two days excessive.
"You definitely want to get a feel for, if I'm aggressive, can I get away with this?" Simms told Mike Florio this week on a Pro Football Talk podcast. "Or wait, if this guy's closely covered, can I put it in the spot and trust that he'll go and get it and dominate the defender in like a 50/50 situation? Yeah, that's what training camp is for.
"But when I hear seven interceptions in two days, I don't give a s--t what you're trying. That's a whole lot of interceptions. I don't know any quarterback I've ever seen as a starting quarterback in football throw seven interceptions two days in a row in training camp. Like never, Mike. I'm dead serious. Never. That is a really rare thing to staple next to a starting quarterback."
Simms acknowledges that he wasn't the best NFL quarterback, yet he doesn't recall ever throwing seven interceptions in an entire training camp, much less two practices. He added, "So that is a little alarming."
It's noteworthy that Purdy didn't play mistake-free football during last year's training camp either. However, he went on to set a single-season franchise record with 4,280 passing yards and posted an NFL-leading 113.0 passer rating, so his teammates and coaches probably aren't overly concerned.