ESPN NFL analyst Dan Orlovsky believes his comments regarding Brock Purdy and Mac Jones made earlier this week were taken the wrong way.
Speaking on “Get Up” on Monday, Orlovsky said the following: “If Mac Jones was in San Francisco, he’d be playing like Brock Purdy.” Understandably, this upset some 49ers fans, who saw it as Orlovsky saying that Purdy is only thriving because of the 49ers’ system. It also bothered George Kittle, who said on KNBR earlier this week that comment was “disrespectful” and that Orlovsky needs to “watch the tape.”
Orlovsky hopped on KNBR Thursday to clarify his comments, and said that he believes Purdy has been a top five QB this season. He said that his comment regarding Jones was meant as a defense of the Patriots’ QB, rather than a shot at Brock.
“What I was trying to convey is, in more support of Mac Jones than like trying to take any form of a shot on Brock Purdy,” Orlovsky said on Papa & Lund. “Like you said, I’m a Brock Purdy backer. Since the first time we saw him against the Dolphins, I’ve been a Brock Purdy backer. I think he’s a really good player. By no way did I mean to imply that it’s a plug-and-play system right now where any quarterback could go do what Brock Purdy is doing. That’s silly.
“What I was trying to convey in support of Mac Jones is 1) I still think he can be a really good player in the NFL and 2) Is in an awful situation. It was me saying, ‘guys, if Mac Jones was in San Francisco, he’d be playing like that.’ Do I think that Mac Jones would be nine touchdowns, no interceptions, and ranking high in almost every category? I don’t know if I’m there saying that. I think that’s silly and reckless to say, but I do think Mac would be playing really good.
“I think there’s probably eight quarterbacks that would be playing at a pretty good level in San Francisco right now. I don’t know that they’d be operating the way that Brock is, so it was never meant to be a shot at Brock Purdy.”
Orlovsky also said that he was hurt by Kittle’s comment, because he does watch the tape, and he doesn’t want to be the type of analyst that insults players.
“That’s the thing that I guess bothered me, and people say you shouldn’t get bothered,” Orlovsky said. “Fans are fans, and I’m super appreciative of them, I want them to have their opinions. Like when George said ‘That’s disrespectful, watch the tape,’ that breaks my heart in a way, because I want those guys to know how much respect I have for them, and I want to talk about players in a good light. So that’s the one thing for me that I was like ‘dang, man,’ that one sticks a little bit.”
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