NFC Notes: Brock Purdy, Kyle Shanahan, Geno Smith, 49ers, Seahawks

49ers

49ers QB Brock Purdy spent most of last year’s offseason recovering from UCL surgery. He’s glad to have a “real legit offseason” ahead of him this time around. 

“It’ll be nice to sort of work on my craft, get a real legit offseason in,” Purdy said, via 49ersWebZone. “Obviously last year, the season ended, surgery, rehab, trying to get back for the season, so it was just all so fast and going a million miles an hour. So for me to be able to take a step away for a little bit and then I think just work on my mobility, obviously continuing with my arm strength and all that, will be huge for me.”

Purdy feels like his arm strength, mobility, and understanding of the playbook took a step up in 2023. 

“I think just physically, I think my arm strength, and I always say mobility, but really like my shoulder mobility, my hips just being able to move better,” Purdy said. “I feel like my rookie year I was pretty tight, and then I had surgery, so my focus was on my arm. So I feel like I could just be a little bit more elusive and stuff in how I move, and that’s something that I want to get better at. And then just mentally within the playbook, I think year after year getting better and more comfortable with the system and how Kyle is calling things and go back on film and look at situations where I can learn from and be better in situational football. So those are all things that you can add up and hopefully I can get better at.”

Purdy wants to work on his “explosiveness and speed” to increase his running ability. 

“We’ll see,” Purdy said. “I mean, obviously I’m going to continue to work at my explosiveness and speed. I’ve always done that, and so if that becomes part of the game, so be it. But I’m a quarterback. I got playmakers around me to go make plays and do all those things. So more than anything, I want to go after the craft of being a good quarterback. So that’s first and foremost.”

49ers

49ers HC Kyle Shanahan went outside of his usual connections when he hired former DC Steve Wilks last year. Wilks was supposed to bring a few new ideas but largely keep things the same for a San Francisco defense that’s had a lot of success the past few seasons. The unit was still one of the league’s best in 2023 but Shanahan cited some philosophical differences that led him to pull the plug after just one year and will impact how he decides to replace Wilks.  

“I’ll look into every possibility,” Shanahan said via FOX Sports’ Eric Williams. “But when you have some good players who have played at a high level and done it a certain way, I’m not just trying to change that. I’ll lean towards trying to get them to do similar stuff that they’ve got very good at that’s got us very far.

“But I’ve got to make sure I find the right person that’s capable in leading our group in the right way, that’s the standard in how we’ve done it and the believe that we will continue to get better at it.” 

Seahawks

The Seahawks recently informed Geno Smith that they won’t move on from him ahead of his salary becoming fully guaranteed for the 2024 season. New OC Ryan Grubb said he’s been impressed by Smith’s accuracy and decision-making. 

“I think he’s got good presence,” Grubb said, via ProFootballTalk. “I’ve been impressed with his decision-making. I thought last year in 2022, I think he led the league in completion percentage. I think that says a lot in this league when you talk about how hard those decisions are, number one, and then how tight the windows are. To be productive at that level and be the best in the league at it, I think says a lot. I think he pushed over 65 percent last year, so it just shows that he’s got the ability to be accurate and make good decisions, and ultimately you need a guy that can lead be smart, tough and dependable and make good decisions, and I think Geno is more than capable of doing that.”