Brock Purdy elevates his game even more to start season for the 49ers

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — Brock Purdy has produced at a high level ever since bursting on the scene as a seventh-round rookie in 2022 who went on a deep playoff run with the San Francisco 49ers.

He's been an MVP finalist, went drive for drive against Patrick Mahomes in the Super Bowl in the 2023 season and led his team to a comeback road playoff win last season in Philadelphia.

Through two weeks this season, Purdy has shown there might be even another level he can take his game. After throwing three touchdown passes in a season-opening win over the Super Bowl favorite Los Angeles Rams, Purdy was nearly flawless last week in a win against Miami.

“I thought he had his best training camp, just in terms of being aggressive with things, but not stupid,” coach Kyle Shanahan said. “Still making the right efficient decision, but when there’s a chance of things being aggressive, and I’ve seen that here these last two weeks. I think the more he plays, just with experience, the easier defenses come to recognize 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 used to everything that you’ve seen.”

Through two games, Purdy has completed 80.4% of his passes, has led nearly as many scoring drives (10) as he has thrown incomplete passes (11) and has shown the athleticism to elevate Shanahan's system even when things don't go exactly as scripted.

There were a few plays where that was most evident last week against the Dolphins, including one when he pump faked to avoid pressure on a rollout, eluded a rusher, passed up an open Deebo Samuel on a short throw to connect on a perfectly placed 27-yard pass to Mike Evans in tight coverage to set up a touchdown.

“I think his ability to play within the scheme, and then know when to play football like you’re a kid,” All-Pro running back Christian McCaffrey said about Purdy's biggest strength. “There’s a good balance of doing your job and being extremely detailed on what’s asked of you, but even coaches will admit, sometimes the play might not be there, and you’ve got to go make a play instead of just move on. And Brock’s always looking for that, and seems to always find it.”

Purdy is finding just about every open receiver so far this season. He went 20 for 22 against the Dolphins with 18 straight completions at one point. The only passes that hit the ground were a drop by Samuel on the opening drive and his final throw that went for intentional grounding on a broken play.

Purdy's numbers have always been impressive. He led the NFL with a 113 passer rating and 9.6 yards per attempt in 2023 when he finished fourth in MVP voting and helped the Niners reach the Super Bowl. He needs 91 more attempts to reach 1,500 and qualify for the all-time leaderboard where his 104.9 passer rating is on track to be the best in NFL history and his 8.6 yards per attempt ranking second to Hall of Famer Otto Graham.

While much of the credit for his early success went to Shanahan and the talented playmakers around him, Purdy is now getting the outside praise that those around the 49ers have always believed he deserved.

“At some point, it’s he’s an incredible, great quarterback. He’s unbelievable,” McCaffrey said. “So can he take it to another level? I mean, yeah. But he’s already in the category of somebody that is special. I’ve been answering that question for years now. It was like, ‘Are you shocked how good he is?’ And then next week, ‘Are you shocked how good he is?’ Then next year? ‘Are you shocked?’ I’m not shocked. He’s special.”

Through two weeks, Purdy has also cut down on his mistakes, throwing only one interception after having 13 in 11 starts in the regular season and playoffs in 2025.

He said he worked with the coaching staff in the offseason on knowing when to take chances and when to play it safe and is happy with his risk level so far this season.

“We know our looks when we have opportunities to make big plays, but playing quarterback is dishing it out and staying ahead of the chains and taking completions when the defense is giving it to you,” he said. “I feel like I’ve had to learn sort of the hard way throughout my career so far on some experiences and some scars, but I feel like you’ve got to learn and make improvements and make change.”

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San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy (13) passes against the Miami Dolphins during the first half of an NFL football game in Santa Clara, Calif., Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Kelley L. Cox)

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy (13) runs against the Miami Dolphins during the first half of an NFL football game in Santa Clara, Calif., Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Kelley L. Cox)

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy (13) is congratulated by fullback Kyle Juszczyk (44) after scoring against the Miami Dolphins during the first half of an NFL football game in Santa Clara, Calif., Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Kelley L. Cox)

NEW YORK (AP) — The Supreme Court on Friday lifted restrictions on a controversial federal voter database before November’s elections, granting President Donald Trump a temporary win in his aggressive campaign against noncitizen voting.

The court's three liberal-leaning justices publicly dissented from the decision.

The emergency order allows states, for now, to use the Department of Homeland Security program, called Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements, or SAVE, in their efforts to verify the eligibility of voters on their rolls. But because existing law blocks most states from systematically purging voters from their rolls within 90 days of an election, the immediate impact on the upcoming midterms is likely limited.

States' use of the SAVE program is voluntary.

The court’s order puts on hold a federal judge’s June ruling that had deemed the Republican administration’s recently revamped version of SAVE illegal. U.S. District Court Judge Sparkle L. Sooknanan had blocked the use of the tool, saying it violated Americans’ privacy rights and could result in voters being wrongly removed from the rolls.

A federal appeals court let her order stand.

But the Supreme Court majority found that a 1996 law explicitly allows DHS to get information about citizenship and immigration from other federal agencies. The federal government also has “an obligation to respond” to states seeking to verify citizenship.

“The order below prevents the Federal Government from using the program it believes is best suited to the task,” the majority wrote in the unsigned order.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented, joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor. The database has long been seen to fall under federal privacy laws, she wrote, and there are real risks that legitimate voter registrations could be mistakenly revoked.

“The harm caused by burdening or disenfranchising even a few lawful voters outweighs the nonexistent harm that the Government experiences when it is prevented from taking an action that it likely lacks the authority to take,” Jackson wrote.

The SAVE program was created under an immigration law mandating that DHS help federal, state and local agencies prevent government benefits from going to noncitizens. The Trump administration last year moved to significantly expand its search abilities. Since then, at least 67 million registrations have been scanned through the program, but critics worry it could end up purging valid voters from the rolls.

Some registrants have already been wrongly flagged. In Travis County, Texas, for example, officials said they investigated 97 voters flagged by SAVE as apparent noncitizens and found that at least 10% of them — and likely up to 21% — were U.S. citizens. The county urged the Supreme Court to reject the administration’s appeal, while the state of Texas submitted its own brief defending the database.

Even though the use of the SAVE program has been blocked for months, the administration said in court filings that DHS officials have continued using Social Security Administration data "in certain cases to verify information and help determine whether illegal voting may have occurred."

DHS in August launched its own investigation to find noncitizen voters on state rolls, according to a federal whistleblower statement that said the effort is rushed, filled with errors and potentially violates state laws. DHS has defended that investigation as being conducted “diligently and professionally.”

The effort to create a national voter list is among numerous steps Trump has taken during his second term to try to overhaul the way elections are run. Most of those steps have been blocked by various courts, in part because the Constitution gives states and Congress the authority to set election rules, but provides no such power to the president. In mid-September, the Supreme Court rejected a bid from Trump to restrict mail ballot procedures before the midterms.

Research shows that noncitizen voting, which is already illegal and punishable as a potential felony that could lead to deportation, is exceptionally rare. But Trump has remained fixated on the idea that massive numbers of noncitizens are voting in U.S. races.

Associated Press writer Lindsay Whitehurst in Washington contributed to this report.

FILE - The Supreme Court is seen on Capitol Hill in Washington, Aug. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, file)