OWINGS MILLS — San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy has the reputation of a game manager in some circles.
The Ravens are not buying into that characterization.
“The word around the league is he is a system quarterback, and I just think that’s not true – just from what I’ve seen,” safety Kyle Hamilton said. “He’s making every throw that you can make as a quarterback. It’s on time [and] on target. [He] makes good decisions, he’s mobile, and he’s got a great cast around him at the same time. Yes, he’s really good, and props to him. It’s a pretty cool story, [with] what he’s done now, and he’s in the MVP race. So, it’s going to be a good challenge, but I’m excited to do it.”
Purdy is having an MVP-caliber season, ranked second in the league with 3,795 yards passing with 29 touchdowns and seven interceptions.
He has a passer rating of 130.0 or higher in six games this season, which ties New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers (six games in 2011 and six games in 2020), Tony Romo (six games in 2014), Ryan Tannehill (six games in 2019) and Denver Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson (six games in 2019) for the most in NFL history.
“With Brock Purdy I see a very good quarterback,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. “He’s playing at a very high level, leading a very high-level offense to great success. He’s playing winning football and operates his style. He sees things. He gets the ball out quick.
“He can make every throw. He throws a beautiful ball [and] moves around the pocket, scrambles when he needs to, throws on the run when he needs to [and] operates the system really well – all the things that I’m sure their coaches really want to see in a quarterback. I’m sure he’s doing really well.”
Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald would not even entertain a question about Purdy being a game manager. Macdonald knows the Ravens will have to contain him and the rest of the 49ers high-powered offense to win the game Monday night.
“[Brock Purdy]’s a great player, man,” Macdonald said. “He’s a great player. He’s a great quarterback, is in charge of what they’re doing on offense [and is] fully in control as all the great quarterbacks are, so I’d put him up there with all the great quarterbacks.”
