SANTA CLARA – Brock Purdy isn’t necessarily a product of Christian McCaffrey, but he’s much better when McCaffrey is on the field.

When McCaffrey plays, Purdy’s passing percentage is 111.9 and his win-loss record is 18-4. When McCaffrey isn’t playing, Purdy has a 93.7 passing rating and a 4-4 record. Stark contrast.

On Thursday, Purdy was asked about his chemistry with McCaffrey. Here’s what Purdy had to say, courtesy of the 49ers public relations department.

Question: Do you see a difference in the benefits for everyone else of RB Christian McCaffrey returning to practice for the second week? Does this elevate everyone else? What does this add to each training day?

PURDY: “Yes, he tries hard every rep, does everything right. It doesn’t make a mess or anything. And so for all of us when we see the standard he’s playing at we’re like ‘OK mate, Christian is back’ and we’ve just got to do our job really well and once we give him the ball let’s go. Make sure the blocking is correct. How can I give him the right ball and pass so that he gets the most YAC possible in my opinion? It’s like all those little things where you start to see everyone elevate their game. And so it’s crazy what having someone come back of his caliber does to our team and elevate everyone’s game. We are extremely happy to have him back for everything he has done for us. But most of all, we have a lot of respect for how he goes about his business and being a great teammate.”

Question: Let’s get back to your chemistry with Christian McCaffrey. It’s a throw to the right sideline that you kind of run over. He said he was halfway there when he looked back to catch up. Do you have trust in him from the past because you know he will be there? Is that part of it?

PURDY: “Of course. Yes. We have run this route many times in the past, from camp to games. And frankly, as if this were just a testament to his details. I know where he’s going to be because in practice he gives me an indication every time he moves in the air or against the defender or there are subtle movements because he does it all the time. And for me at that moment it was all about confidence because I knew where he needed to be and how he was following the route. And that’s the kind of guy he is. He sets up these types of shows for me so I know where he needs to be if it’s off schedule or something. And it’s just the chemistry and trust that we’ve built and hopefully we can continue to take that forward.

Question: Last week, was it because he hadn’t practiced much in the last few months?

PURDY: “Yes. We practiced this in training last week. But going back to watching last year and then the reps he had early in camp were all reps we put together. “When he came back we said ‘alright, this game is on again’ and we said ‘alright honey’.”

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