LAKE LAS VEGAS, Nevada — Quarterback Brock Purdy is ready to be done with the “paparazzi” and media obligations at Super Bowl LVIII.
Purdy said he’s zeroed in on stepping up his play to bring the San Francisco 49ers back to Super Bowl glory, and won’t be hung up on narratives in the media that seem to be building energy as gameday against the Kansas City Chiefs approaches.
“With all the stuff going around on the outside, being able to sink back into what you believe, what your purpose is,” Purdy said of what he is focused on, mentioning he connected with 49ers legend Steve Young on that very topic. “He pointed out, spoke to the entire team, ‘When you have this opportunity, you’ve got to take it.'”
The 49ers were on the practice fields at UNLV as the sun emerged in the first dry day of their three in Nevada so far this week.
“We got here Sunday, but it feels like we’ve already been out here a week,” head coach Kyle Shanahan said following practice Wednesday afternoon.
The field at UNLV hasn’t met the approval of the 49ers, whose game-day operations staff flagged the softness of the playing surface prior to the full team arrival and on-field exercise on Monday afternoon.
“We had a normal practice. We’re not going to change the whole schedule up. We’d go too early in the morning,” Shanahan said. “We’re here. Everyone has preferences. We’re practicing on it. I wish the field was better but we’ll deal with it how it.”
There are no major injury concerns for the 49ers. Tight end George Kittle (toe), defensive end Arik Armstead (knee/foot), cornerback Ambry Thomas (ankle) and linebacker Oren Burks (shoulder) were limited in Wednesday’s workout. Kittle would like to go through one practice before gameday after also being idle during the bye week between the conference championship and Super Bowl.
“We didn’t have as an aggressive practice, in terms of running and cutting. That’s (Thursday),” Purdy said. “Today it was pretty good to get out there and move around with light running. We’ll see tomorrow how it is.”
Defensive tackle Kalia Davis (ankle), two weeks into his practice window to return from injured reserve, was a full participant.
Left tackle Trent Williams will play Sunday. But he received his usual Wednesday veteran rest day and watched practice from the sideline.
–By Jeff Reynolds, Field Level Media