Wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk speaks to reporters about his confidence in rookie quarterback Brock Purdy and how the 49ers “found a rhythm” in the second half of their wild-card win over the Seahawks.
Brandon Aiyuk wishes he could have one moment back from the 49ers' 41-23 wild-card playoff win over the Seattle Seahawks on Saturday.
The wide receiver nearly gave rookie quarterback Brock Purdy four touchdown passes on the day, but the ball slipped through Aiyuk's fingers in the end zone during the fourth quarter.
After the game, Aiyuk promised to make up for the drop and lamented over wasting the QB's incredible play.
"He did a great job," Aiyuk said of Purdy after the win. "I owe him one. ...
"I don't know what it is about the end zone over there, but I got to figure it out."
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Purdy credited Aiyuk for even being open in the first place.
"I was excited that, 'All right, we have a scramble drill on,' and he kept it alive," Purdy said. "He saw me scramble -- I went left, came back right. And then he ran left and then went all the way right, and so I was excited that he kept it alive, and I was happy. I was like, 'Dude, that was good.' Then he was, obviously -- he's so hard on himself.
"He's like, 'Man, I should have caught it. It hit my hands,' or whatever, but it's all good, man. I love the dude. He works hard. He blocked for Deebo [Samuel] on that long touchdown. You just see BA gives everything for this team, and so if something like that happens, it's all good. We're going to learn from it and get better."
As Purdy mentioned, Aiyuk played a key role in Samuel's dagger TD run, blocking for his teammate on the 74-yard score.
Both Purdy and linebacker Fred Warner applauded Aiyuk for not only his receiving abilities but for stepping into other roles on the field.
"Brandon doesn't get the accolades, he probably doesn't get talked about a lot, but when I watched him block down the field for Deebo when Deebo caught that over route and scored a touchdown -- people don't do that," Warner said. "Receivers don't do that -- that's big time. That's a huge play by him in that moment that people probably aren't talking a whole lot about.
"But receivers who do that and then are able to ice guys off the line and do all that stuff that people really notice, that's why I know he'll be a big-time player in this league for a long time because he does all the little things required to play at a high level."
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Aiyuk finished the game with three receptions for 73 yards on the heels of the first 1,000-yard season of his NFL career.
And while his contributions both with and without the ball in his hands are vital to the 49ers' success, the wide receiver will have a chance to make good on his Purdy "IOU" in the NFC divisional round next weekend.
