San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan has not thought about how the team will handle their quarterback situation in 2023 following rookie Brock Purdy's stunning emergence.
The Niners claimed their eighth straight win on Christmas Eve as they eased to a 37-20 victory over the Washington Commanders to improve to 11-4 on the season.
Purdy, the last pick in this year's draft, has been the starting quarterback for the last three games, having come in and replaced Jimmy Garoppolo following his injury in the first quarter of the Week 13 win over the Miami Dolphins.
Since quarterback starts were first tracked in 1950, Purdy is only the second player to begin his career 3-0 as a starter while throwing multiple touchdown passes in each game. The other is Kurt Warner, who did so in 1999 after stepping in for the injured Trent Green and went on to lead the St. Louis Rams to victory in Super Bowl XXXIV.
The 49ers and Purdy have ambitions on lifting the Lombardi Trophy at the end of this campaign, and it is that goal Shanahan is entirely focused on, not a quarterback decision that figures to be one of the dominant storylines of the offseason.
Garoppolo will become a free agent at the start of the 2023 league year in March, leaving Purdy and Trey Lance — who was the 49ers’ starter before suffering a season-ending ankle injury in Week 2 — as the two quarterbacks on the roster.
San Francisco traded three first-round picks for the right to acquire Lance with the third overall selection in 2021, but he has started only four games in two seasons and it may be difficult to demote Purdy from the starting role if he continues to thrive and the 49ers enjoy a deep playoff run.
But asked if he had thought about how he will approach the quarterback issue in the offseason, Shanahan told reporters on Monday: "No, I didn't even know what year it is after this season is over, so I'm trying to think about how to get him ready for Wednesday [practice].
"That's a great question, but honestly, I don't look ahead like that. We have a number of big games in front of us."
Purdy averaged 10.64 yards per pass attempt in throwing for 234 yards, two touchdowns and an interception against Washington despite still dealing with an oblique injury.
Assessing Purdy's display, Shanahan said: "I thought Brock played well, really well. He was smart with the ball.
"There were a couple situations that were tight, where there was an unblocked player and the play was almost there and I thought he just did a great job not doing anything stupid in some tough situations also.
"He's shown that he's willing to let a rip at all times and there were a couple times in the game that they got an unblocked guy right to him and he made a couple great decisions just to take the sack, so I was really impressed with how Brock played just talking to him here the last two days.
"He got out healthy again and I think that should continue healing up and I think he should be even a little better this week with more health."