San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan says a viral sideline clip of quarterback Brock Purdy shouting his name during Monday Night Football wasn’t the blowup fans assumed it was.
The 49ers are 6-0 to start the 2026 season after beating the Washington Commanders in that Week 6 game. During the broadcast, Purdy was caught on camera yelling “Hey, Kyle!” with visible frustration, and the moment quickly spread across social media as fans speculated he was angry Shanahan hadn’t gotten a play call to him in time.
Ahead of San Francisco’s Week 7 matchup against the Atlanta Falcons, Shanahan addressed the clip directly when a reporter asked him about it.
“Yeah, it’s actually not to call a play faster. It’s, ‘I need it again,’ and it gets cutoff at 15 [seconds],” Shanahan said.
Shanahan explained that the helmet communication system quarterbacks rely on for play calls can cut out or get missed, which creates these moments on the sideline.
“Sometimes no one can hear it,” Shanahan said. “I always call a play and I just walk, and think. I don’t always watch the huddle. A lot of times. Mac [Jones] or someone will say, ‘We didn’t get it, it was chopped’ or somebody yells, ‘Brock’s yelling at you,’ which I can’t always hear. But I did hear him a couple times in this game, and I look up and try to do it again as long as it’s not past 15 seconds.”
Shanahan is regarded as one of the sharpest play-callers in the league, but the exchange shows even a well-oiled operation runs into communication snags under the game clock. Shanahan made clear there’s no rift between him and his quarterback.
Through six weeks, Purdy leads all qualifying quarterbacks with a 118.1 passer rating, throwing for 1,460 yards on a 69.6% completion rate with 14 touchdowns against just two interceptions.
Shanahan and Purdy will try to keep the 49ers unbeaten when they travel to Atlanta to face the Falcons in Week 7.
