George Kittle Had a Three-Word Message for Brock Purdy After QB's Ugly Game vs. Ravens

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Brock Purdy had a night to forget in the San Francisco 49ers’ 33—19 loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Monday, but teammate George Kittle hasn’t wavered in his faith in his quarterback.
After the game, the veteran tight end had a short and sweet message to Purdy: Keep slingin’ it.
Kittle said, “I just kept telling Brock, ‘Just keep slinging it, man.’ We’re the No. 1 seed in the NFC for a reason: because you sling the ball, you get it to our playmakers in space.”
Kittle hasn't lost faith in Purdy and told the young QB to "keep slingin' it" pic.twitter.com/as9RAWQ4Nd
— 49ers on NBCS (@NBCS49ers) December 26, 2023
Kittle acknowledged that the Ravens had a “great game plan” against San Francisco while also addressing his team's unfortunate costly turnovers, a few of which weren’t all on Purdy.
Week 16’s loss marked the first time Purdy threw four interceptions in a game, becoming the first 49ers quarterback to do so since Colin Kaepernick in 2015. Prior to Monday, “Mr. Irrelevant” had thrown just seven interceptions in 384 passing attempts.
Despite the tough loss, Kittle maintained his faith in Purdy and the rest of the 49ers.
“It’s not like the building’s on fire or anything like that,” Kittle said. “Sometimes the ball doesn’t bounce your way. Lot of tips, a lot of crazy stuff happened… I still think we got a pretty good football team.”
Sam Darnold replaced Purdy in the fourth quarter due to a stinger. Hopefully, Purdy will be good to go when the 49ers play the Washington Commanders at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday.

Kristen Wong is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. She has been a sports journalist since 2020 and has a bachelor’s in English and linguistics from Columbia University. Before joining SI in November 2023, Wong covered four NFL teams as an associate editor with the FanSided NFL network and worked as a staff writer for the brand’s flagship site. She is a lifelong Liverpool fan who enjoys solving crossword puzzles and hanging out at her neighborhood dive bar in NYC.