With Dolphins back at Levi's, 49ers' Brock Purdy hopes he's rediscovered early magic
· Yahoo Sports
With the San Francisco 49ers poised to host the Dolphins on Sunday, 1,386 days after Miami last visited Santa Clara, it can be easy to forget that Brock Purdy's NFL career is a Disney movie.
On Dec. 4, 2022, the opening credits began rolling. You know the script. Jimmy Garoppolo suffered a broken foot. Purdy entered. On Thursday, tight end George Kittle recalled the mood when the untested rookie who was the 262nd and last pick in the draft became QB1.
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"You guys have all seen the video of (linebackers coach) Johnny Holland on the sideline, and he goes, ‘Oh, Brock Purdy's in? Oh,'" Kittle said. "I think that was everybody's reaction."
Purdy led the 49ers to a 33-17 win over Miami while wearing No. 13. That's the number he's worn to recognize Dan Marino, the Dolphins legend who was his dad's boyhood hero and was watching Purdy that day from a luxury suite at Levi's Stadium. In other words, Disney stuff.
"It was just one game, but it was an extremely special game," head coach Kyle Shanahan said. "It was foreshadowing how the following three years would go after that game."
With the Dolphins returning to Levi's on Sunday, Purdy hopes he's recaptured some of that early career magic in 2026. Not that Purdy has struggled since he led the 49ers to the Super Bowl and finished fourth in the NFL MVP voting in 2023 in his first full season as a starter.
But the 49ers went 6-11 in 2024. And Purdy missed eight games last year with turf toe. Purdy has thrown 40 touchdowns and 22 interceptions the past two seasons after tossing 44 touchdowns and 15 picks in his first two years.
Purdy spoke last month about reaching another level in Shanahan's offense before tossing three touchdowns and posting a 105.6 passer rating in a season-opening 27-7 win over the Rams.
Up next:The Dolphins at Levi's. That should provide good memories for Purdy and his remaining teammates from 2022. Kittle recalled a moment that helped him realize the untested rookie might be really, really good: Purdy didn't flinch while delivering a 19-yard strike to Kittle while being smacked against an all-out blitz.
"It hit me right in the sternum," Kittle said. "I was like, ‘All right, yeah, I could play with this. This is awesome.' And then I saw the replay and I was like, ‘Oh, s---, good job, Brock.'"
Second season breakthroughs?Week 1 injuries mean the 49ers might need more production than they expected from wide receiver Demarcus Robinson and tight end Luke Farrell. Can the 2025 free-agent signings deliver after lackluster debut seasons?
San Francisco 49ers tight end Luke Farrell runs against Los Angeles Chargers defensive back Tony Jefferson during a preseason game, Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026, in Inglewood. (Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press)With rookie De'Zhaun Stribling (ankle) out until at least early December, Robinson, 31, will assume a larger role after signing a two-year, $8 million deal last year. It didn't look like money well spent in 2025: Robinson had 22 catches for 276 yards and one touchdown in 14 games.
He did have a clutch, where-did-that-come-from performance in the wild-card upset in Philadelphia, however. And Robinson opened this season with one of the biggest plays - a 39-yard touchdown catch - against the Rams.
"Yeah, he's gotten better," offensive coordinator Klay Kubiak said. "He's more confident in our offense. He's more confident in his route tree. We love him around here."
With pass-catching tight end Jake Tonges (knee) out for the season, the 49ers don't expect Farrell to replicate Tonges' receiving prowess. Farrell has 49 catches in 84 career games.
With his snap total likely to increase, the hope is Farrell, 28, is better at what he does best. The 49ers made Farrell their biggest veteran signing last year, but they didn't get the blocking force they expected after agreeing to a three-year, $15.75 million deal. A problem: Farrell's head was swimming in absorbing a new system.
Kittle hailed Farrell's strides this summer. Shanahan echoed that praise, saying Farrell was "a lot more confident in just knowing what he's doing."
"When you're thinking too much, you're not playing fast," Farrell said. "Just being confident, knowing what I know now, allows me to play full speed."
Avoiding a letdown:From a mental standpoint, it can't be easy to go from playing the presumed Super Bowl favorites one week to the presumed worst roster in the league the next.
That's what the 49ers will deal with Sunday when they host the Dolphins, 10 days after they blew out the Rams in Australia. Could it lead to a potential letdown performance? Ask anyone in San Francisco's locker room, and the answer is a vehement "No."
"I think the greatness in our team in general is having a head coach like Kyle Shanahan," linebacker Fred Warner said. "He paints the picture perfectly for the situation week to week, and he did that exact same thing this week, letting us know the challenge that the Dolphins present and the challenge that we have as a team to really get better coming off of the Rams game."
Warner was probably giving the Dolphins a little too much credit there. They don't exactly present much of a "challenge." As the 49ers' defensive leader, though, his mentality of not overlooking any opponent should trickle down.
Defensive coordinator Raheem Morris said he'd be lying if he didn't have some concerns about his unit taking its foot off the gas. But coaches are preaching the importance of a consistent approach.
"We're going to teach that message," he said.
Miami Dolphins head coach Jeff Hafley watches players warm up prior to a game against the Raiders, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, in Las Vegas. (Ross D. Franklin/Associated Press)Following the blueprint:Dolphins first-year head coach Jeff Hafley worked under Shanahan and general manager John Lynch in 2017 and 2018 as the 49ers' defensive backs coach.
During those two seasons, San Francisco endured a combined 10-22 record. There weren't many bright spots. But Hafley, 47, recalls his younger self admiring the shared vision and organizational alignment from GM down to head coach.
"John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan coming in together, being aligned, it kind of sent a message to me: ‘If I ever get a chance to do this, I want it to be like that,'" Hafley told reporters Wednesday in Napa.
Hafley called Lynch "one of the best human beings of all time." He said Shanahan has had a huge influence on him, and Hafley doesn't believe he would be where he is today without that guidance. Shanahan said the two still share a close relationship. They talk about as much as Shanahan talks to anybody, which "isn't that much," he joked.
"I've learned so much from him," Hafley said. "Seeing him stick to the process and hold people to a standard during two really hard years … I think that has stuck with me."
Shanahan said Hafley was a "stud from the beginning … it was a matter of time before (he) would be a coordinator in this league, and before he'd be a head coach."
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