SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Sitting comfortably on a couch in the bowels of Levi's Stadium, a question after a late August practice leaves San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy carefully considering the lessons he has learned over the past four seasons and where it might take him in 2026.
The query is simple: "Is this the best training camp you've ever had?" The response, much like his job, is more nuanced. Purdy takes a moment to ponder the offseason film sessions with quarterbacks coach Mick Lombardi and then compares where he is now to some of the highest points of his career, including the team's run to Super Bowl LVIII.
Finally, Purdy concludes that yes, he is putting the finishing touches on his best training camp. But even more than that, he knows what it could mean for the 2026 season.
"It's my fifth year and I feel confident with the plays and everything," Purdy told ESPN. "I go back and watch that Super Bowl year and it's like, 'Dude, honestly, I could have been better.' I made plays. But fundamentally as a quarterback and being consistent with my footwork, with my eyes, with throwing the ball aggressively, those were areas that I could have been better. I've honed into that."
Two weeks into the season, Purdy's words seem prescient. He has been almost perfect in blowout wins over the Los Angeles Rams and the rebuilding Miami Dolphins.
Purdy leads the NFL in Total QBR (95.0), completion rate (80.4%) and completion percentage over expectation (11.1%). He has yet to throw a ball off-target or taken any sacks. And along the way, he has posted his 13th career game with a 130-plus passer rating and eighth contest with a 140-plus passer rating -- the most such games by a player in his first five seasons.
Some of those stats are a bit deep in the weeds, but here's one that's not: Once Purdy hits 1,500 career regular-season pass attempts -- he's at 1,409 -- he will almost certainly hold the career mark for the highest passer rating by a qualified quarterback.
"He's special," said running back Christian McCaffrey on Sunday. "I think that'd be the word I'd use for it. ... I don't know what the stats are, but it's unbelievable to watch that. How decisive he is, how good he is at throwing on time and then also creating when he has to. When he's at the helm, we feel good."
Despite that year-over-year consistency, the Niners believe there's still another level Purdy can reach this season. Linebacker Fred Warner was already touting him as an MVP candidate after his Week 2 outing (DraftKings currently gives him the third-best odds at +800). And even with an already lengthy list of injuries at receiver (Ricky Pearsall, De'Zhaun Stribling, Christian Kirk and Demarcus Robinson will miss all or parts of the season), Purdy proved in 2025 that he can elevate a deficient supporting cast with his own improvement.
Purdy's pursuit of his best season began soon after the last campaign ended, when Shanahan and his staff gave their annual "get better" tape for each player to study over the offseason. Purdy's tape focused on a few foundational principles: not hanging on to big-play reads for too long so the ball can come out quicker and the offense can stay ahead of the chains; understanding when to better use his legs; and knowing when to take shots down the field without being reckless.
All of those things showed up during training camp, whether it was on days when he consistently took checkdowns for easy completions or other days when he pushed the ball downfield for big plays.
Warner, who had some serious battles against Purdy and the top offense in camp, said the game now seems to move slowly for Purdy. Warner noted Purdy has evolved in the ways he manipulates defenses with cadence and motion, knows every coverage defenses can throw at him and then has the athletic ability and creativity to make a play when things break down.
"All those little things that kind of make a great quarterback in this league, he does all those things at a high level," Warner said.
And while Purdy didn't mind the occasional training camp interception, so long as it came because of trying something new, even those were few and far between.
"I thought he had his best training camp, just in terms of being aggressive with things, but not stupid," Shanahan said. "I think the more he plays, just with experience, the easier [it becomes to recognize defenses] and things like that. But he played so good right away that it's not like, 'Oh, he's so much better in this area.' I just think you gradually become a vet and get used to everything that you've seen."
Indeed, if experience is part of the reason Purdy looks poised for his best season, the other half of the equation comes from time on task with Shanahan. Purdy is five starts away from passing Jimmy Garoppolo for the most starts by a QB under Shanahan (61), meaning he's already eclipsed signal-callers such as Matt Ryan, Robert Griffin III and Matt Schaub. Ryan's 2016 MVP season provides the benchmark for all Shanahan quarterbacks, as he posted a league-leading 79.6 QBR and finished second in passing yards (4,944) and touchdowns (38).
The close relationship with Shanahan has allowed Purdy to see the game how his coach does, understand why Shanahan calls certain plays at certain times and learn how to adjust if the defense throws a curveball.
Out of Purdy's 55 starts with Shanahan, that relationship was possibly never more evident than his 54th two weeks ago. As the Rams stayed in sub-packages with the idea of taking away the deep ball, Purdy complied for much of the game.
One of the only times they deviated from that approach wasn't even supposed to happen. With second-and-6 at the Rams' 39-yard line late in the second quarter, Purdy stepped to the line of scrimmage with a playcall that had his progression focused to the left of the formation, where wide receiver Mike Evans, tight end Luke Farrell and running back Kaelon Black were the primary options.
Robinson ran a deep route from the right side of the formation, making him the sole option if the Rams provided a certain look. When Purdy dropped back, he saw the Rams defensive backs stick to their zone matching rules as safety Kamren Kinchens took a couple of steps toward the line of scrimmage.
Purdy quickly worked off Evans, Farrell and Black before firing deep for Robinson. It worked, and the touchdown throw gave the Niners a lead they would not relinquish.
"For Brock to be tapped into that and the 2% chance that actually is going to open up, and he has the confidence to step into it and rip it, I love to see him just continue to get more and more confident," fullback Kyle Juszczyk said.
It was one of only six throws Purdy even attempted traveling 10-plus air yards in Melbourne, but he followed that by going 10-of-10 on such passes against Miami for 211 yards and a touchdown. And on Sunday, Purdy continued to use his legs -- another improvement mentioned on his "get better tape" -- with a rushing touchdown and 30 rushing yards. He became the first player in league history to complete at least 90% of his passes while throwing for 285-plus yards with two touchdowns and a rushing score in a single game.
The disparity between the two games speaks not only to the level of the defense on the other side, but also to how Purdy is making the correct decisions over and over based on what defenses present him.
Whether Purdy can continue his early-season trajectory will depend on plenty of factors outside of his control. The 49ers are slated to face the top-tier defenses of Denver and Seattle in Weeks 4 and 5, respectively. The Seahawks, in particular, should provide the stiffest test after they limited the Niners to nine points and 204.5 yards per game in the teams' final two meetings of last season.
Making matters more difficult, Pearsall (right knee surgery) and tight end Jake Tonges (right knee) are out of the season; Stribling, the rookie second-round pick, is expected to miss 10 weeks after left ankle surgery; and Robinson, who had the team's second-most receiving yards through two weeks, is expected to miss three to six weeks with a high right ankle sprain.
Injury issues have become part and parcel of Purdy's young career, but, as always, he's looking forward to the challenge with Shanahan calling the plays.
"I'm just pumped to go and do some cool stuff with all the games coming up, the opportunities that we have together, both [Shanahan] and I," Purdy said. "I feel like I've gotten better. I know he's a great coach. ... I feel like our best ball is ahead of us."
