49ers camp: What we learned Tuesday about Brock Purdy, Jake Moody, Colton McKivitz
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SANTA CLARA – Where have Brock Purdy’s manners gone at dinner? Relax, this isn’t a dad joke about not resting his precious elbow on the table.
What you’re about to read is an example of Purdy’s persistence, at not just overcoming his throwing-elbow surgery in March but at overall improvement as the 49ers’ sure-fire starting quarterback.
“He’s not happy where he’s at. He’s constantly working on things,” right tackle Colton McKivitz said after Tuesday’s practice. “Even at the dinner table, talking about what he can work on.”
At dinner? “Yeah, he’s just talking about practice, man, talking about ‘ball,” McKivitz relayed.
Purdy indeed cats a determined-looking, all-ball veneer at practice. He finished his fourth session of camp Tuesday with touchdown passes to Deebo Samuel and Jauan Jennings in red-zone drills; he was 8-of-11 passing in full-team action.
Unlike last season’s rookie ways, Purdy did not celebrate by pretending to shoot guns with his hands or inject ice into his forearm’s veins. Instead, he knows there is much more work to do, beyond just getting surgically repaired right elbow ready, with six weeks until the season opener in Pittsburgh.
Purdy is completing 60 percent of his passes (30-of-50), and, more pertinent to any quarterback-competition chatter, he’s taken every first-string rep in his four practices, under the prescribed comeback plan of working two days on, then not throwing for two days.
Cornerback Isaiah Oliver is impressed, having been victimized by Purdy’s final pass Tuesday, when Jauan Jennings got free to catch almost a fade pass into the right side of the end zone.
“Just watching him on film from in the playoffs and watching now, it looks like he’s throwing the ball the same way to me,” said Oliver, who was with the Atlanta Falcons last year (when they beat Jimmy Garoppolo and the 49ers) but didn’t face Purdy until this past week.
“That’s really good for him and his confidence,” Oliver said of Purdy’s comeback. “It takes an extra step or two when coming back from injury. I have experience with that and I’ve talked to him about it. As long as he’s confident and it doesn’t hurt, then he’s definitely going to be a hell of a player.”
KICK-ME SIGN
The quarterback competition looks as locked up the kicker duel: Purdy is QB1, and Jake Moody is K1, meaning the rookie right-footer is on track to beat out veteran challenger Zane Gonzalez.
Moody made a 60-yard field goal to end Tuesday’s practice, and, for important context, it followed a 43-yard miss earlier in practice. “That’s one I want back and prove that’s not what I’m about,” Moody said. “I’m just trying to put it through; I don’t care how far it goes over.”
Moody commended Gonzalez for his veteran guidance and that it’s been “pretty cool.”
They kicked inside Levi’s Stadium this spring to gauge “tricky” wind patterns and capture the scenery’s aiming points, but the field has been unavailable in camp because of last weekend’s Taylor Swift concerts. “We were trying to do but with the Taylor Swift concert, they had to take the poles down,” Moody said. “Hopefully we will get a few more kicks in there before the first preseason game in there” on Aug. 19 against Denver.
McKIVITZ’S STARTER MENTALITY
McKivitz said got a confidence boost after spring workouts when told he was the starting right tackle to replace Mike McGlinchey, who left in free agency for Denver. “I sweated a few drafts, and for them not to take anyone and then to put that full confidence in me as a starter is huge,” McKivitz said. “The pressure is not off, because now you are the starter, but it gives the ability to work on little things and not have that little voice in the back that you may not be here tomorrow, but at the same time, you may lose your job. … It’s my job not to lose it.” Backing up McKivitz is veteran Matt Pryor.
FIRST INJURY STOPPAGE
Jaylon Moore exited with an injury to his right leg after serving as the second-string left tackle and apparently getting rolled up while blocking a Jordan Mason run. That paused practice at camp for the first time because of an injury, and concerned teammates gathered around Moore before he walked off the field with trainers. Leroy Watson IV replaced him.
Rookie wide receiver Isaiah Winstead appeared to sustain a foot or ankle injury in warmups.
STOP THE FIGHT
When linebacker Dre Greenlaw essentially tackled Christian McCaffrey on a 5-yard run, fisticuffs did not ensue, unlike Monday’s heated practice that saw a few scrums. Instead, Greenlaw apologized, with angry offensive linemen encircling him.
COWBOYS’ BUST IS HIRED
Taco Charlton lined up as a third-string defensive end in his practice debut, continuing a journeyman career that began with him as a Dallas Cowboys’ 2017 first-round draft pick (No. 28). He has 11 ½ sacks in 60 games through a career that’s included stints with the Miami Dolphins (2019), Kansas City Chiefs (2020), Pittsburgh Steelers (2021) and Chicago Bears (2022). Not only does he add depth with Nick Bosa absent amid a contract dispute but the 49ers also are missing Austin Bryant with an apparently minor injury.
MORE AIYUK PRAISE
Saying the 49ers’ receiving corps is unique for having multiple receivers who are extremely physical blockers, Oliver also commended how Aiyuk and Jennings are looking in camp
On Aiyuk, Oliver said: “Really crispy routes, way better than I even thought he was. I knew that hew was already good. Seeing it up close and personal, he’s such a better receiver than when he first got in the NFL. Really detailed in his routs, explosive, quick off the line. He’s poised to have a really big year.”
On Jennings, Oliver added: “He’s definitely a physical guy. That’s just in his nature. And that’s his role in the receiving room. He’ll block linebackers, safeties, anybody, it doesn’t matter. He looks for that challenge. He’s a big, strong guy, runs good routes, and has a great catch radius.”
JALEN HURD RETIRES
Jalen Hurd, the 49ers’ third pick of a 2019 draft class led by Nick Bosa and Deebo Samuel, was placed on the reserve/retired list Tuesday by the New England Patriots. Hurd never appeared in an official NFL game, and he apparently got hurt Monday, a week after signing with the Patriots to try restarting his career.
Hurd scored two touchdowns against the Dallas Cowboys in the 2019 preseason opener, then hurt his back and spent his rookie year on injured reserve. A torn ACL in 2020 camp further derailed his career, and the 49ers waived him off injured reserve in November 2021.
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