49ers Coach Kyle Shanahan Says Brock Purdy Would Have to ‘Melt in Practice’ to Lose Starting QB Job

49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan seems to have his sights set on Brock Purdy to be his starting quarterback.

According to Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer, Shanahan essentially said that the starting job is Purdy’s to lose.

“He would have to melt in practice to lose it. And Brock’s too good of a player to melt in practice—and so are the other guys,” Shanahan told Greer.

Shanahan has not specifically named a starting quarterback, previously saying that a competition would take place during training camp between Purdy, Trey Lance and Sam Darnold. But Shanahan’s comments suggest that Purdy is the clear favorite.

Purdy recently returned to training camp after undergoing offseason surgery to repair a torn UCL (ulnar collateral ligament) in his throwing arm. The last pick of the 2022 draft, he opened last season as the 49ers' third-string quarterback, but moved up to QB1 after injuries to Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo (Garoppolo signed with the Las Vegas Raiders). As a starter last season, Purdy helped the 49ers to wins in its last five regular-season games, clinching the NFC West title and advancing through the playoffs to the NFC championship game. San Francisco lost to the Eagles, 31-7, as Purdy suffered the UCL tear in the first quarter.

In March, Shanahan implied that Purdy would be his first choice for QB1 once he got healthy. Now, Shanahan told Breer that Purdy had been the 2023 starter in Shanahan’s mind since last season ended.

“He was always clearly our starter, but there were so many questions about his injury, how he’d come back from it, that we didn’t even know if he’d be ready for this year, so we had to prepare for everything else,” Shanahan told Breer. He added that they had excitement about Lance potentially getting to play again as well. “Trey was the guy we gave the keys to last year,” Shanahan said for why they trusted him to take the reins as well.