SANTA CLARA — Brock Purdy was studying to get the jump on a condensed week of preparation with the New York Giants up next Thursday night when he heard a familiar jingle in the background.
Purdy and 49ers teammate Nick Zakelj had the Monday Night Football game between Carolina and New Orleans on the TV. It was mostly background noise until Purdy's attention was diverted to a break in the action.
Staring Purdy straight in the face was himself, in his debut regional commercial for Toyota.
"I hear the music and I'm thinking, 'Wait a minute,'" Purdy said Tuesday. "It was very strange. It was the first time I'd seen it."
Purdy, who also has a deal with Alaska Airlines, said the spot in which he promotes a pickup truck was a long process.
"We shot all day — all day for 30 seconds," Purdy said.
The last time Purdy played on a Thursday night, no one was asking him to do commercials. His emergence as a national story was in its infancy when the 49ers visited the Seattle Seahawks last Dec. 15 with a chance to win the NFC West title.
Purdy completed 17 of 26 passes for 217 yards, no interceptions and 28- and 54-yard touchdown passes to George Kittle. The 49ers won 21-13, clinching the division and improving to 10-4.
None of which made breathing any easier for the seventh-round draft pick out of Iowa State.
The 49ers were coming off a 35-7 win over Tampa Bay and Tom Brady in Purdy's first start in place of Jimmy Garoppolo, who was lost for the season with a fractured foot in the previous week's win over Miami.
But any euphoria Purdy felt about coming out on top against the most prolific quarterback in NFL history was overwhelmed by the pain of a fractured rib sustained on the second drive of the game. Adrenaline got him through it, but was of no help the next day.
Purdy was unable to throw the ball at all, and there was serious doubt whether he'd play against Seattle. Josh Johnson was aboard as a "just-in-case" quarterback. If the 49ers had a viable backup who had been with the team longer, coach Kyle Shanahan would have had an easy decision.
"We probably wouldn't have (played him) if we had been in a different situation," Shanahan said. "We had to give him every moment, and what he pulled off — to be able to play and do it the way he did — was impressive."
For his second Thursday night start, Purdy will do it pain-free and at home at Levi's Stadium instead of on the road.
"Last year, the main focus was, 'Will I be able to throw come Thursday?'" Purdy said. "I didn't throw a ball for three days and until game day. Now I can hone in on the plays, the details, the operation of the offense and not worrying about the broken rib."
Whatever the medical staff did that day for Purdy in terms of pain management only did so much.
"I definitely was not comfortable," Purdy said. "For four quarters, I felt it for sure. But we were able to pull it out."
Purdy had already impressed teammates simply by making the team and then with his moxie as the scout team quarterback once Garoppolo replaced the injured Trey Lance in Week 2. Coming off the bench in a win over Miami, and then beating Brady added additional layers of respect.
If Purdy hadn't won everyone over at that point, what he did against Seattle pushed him to new heights.
"He showed his toughness, man," linebacker Fred Warner said. "We didn't know if he was going to be able to gut it out. It was a game-time decision during warmups and we needed him big-time."
He may have been the last pick in the draft, but Purdy was viewed in a team sense as capable of leading a Super Bowl run.
"Brock played a great game," Kittle said. "I mean, I'm not going to say that game told us all who Brock is, but it definitely laid the groundwork for what we were trying to accomplish."
Purdy has been the quarterback for seven regular season wins and two playoff wins, with the only 49ers' defeat coming in the NFC Championship Game after his elbow was shredded in the first quarter.
That injury is a distant memory at this point, with Purdy meeting or exceeding every physical expectation with his post-surgery rehab. The 49ers are coming off a 30-23 road win against the Los Angeles Rams, during which Purdy was his usual efficient self (17 of 25, 206 yards, no interceptions and a 93.1 passer rating) but drew some of his first criticism since his ascension.
Three times Purdy had open receivers on deep shots to Brandon Aiyuk, Deebo Samuel and Jauan Jennings. Three times, Purdy overthrew his target. He views the misfires as correctable mistakes.
"You want to play perfect. Is that a real thing? Can you play perfect?" Purdy said. "I don't know. You're going to mess up, but I'm going to hold myself to a standard. So I've got to watch that film, learn from it, rep and build confidence that we can hit those shots and those opportunities.
"We have hit them in the past. It's something you learn from and don't dwell on and let it affect your game."
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