The people's tight end joined the Morning Roast Thursday morning with Brian Baldinger in studio and talked about everything from shoes, to golfing with Trent Williams, Cabo with Kyle Shanahan and Brock Purdy.
It's the latter who is of significant interest. Purdy has done nothing but produce since coming into the league, but his draft stock and limited size and arm strength leave him open to criticism.
Listen to Kittle's full interview above
Kittle was asked what makes Purdy special. He eschewed the "corporate" answer about his consistency and pointed to his aura in the huddle.
"What you guys don't get to see, is one thing I've always talked about that I think is just something that elevates quarterbacks, is when you step in the huddle and your voice and your presence gets the attention of all 10 other guys in the huddle," Kittle said. "Because I've been a lot of huddles my entire career. While I love all the quarterbacks that I played with, some of them are just like, they've got it, whatever that is.
"And [Purdy] steps into the huddle, and all 10 eyes are on him. Everybody's looking at him. And just his confidence that he speaks these plays with, his understanding of the offense, like he gets it all. Just in those five to 10 seconds that you're in this huddle. And I don't know if it's inspiring, but I think it's more of his confidence makes everybody else in the huddle more confident in themselves. And when you're in a huddle with Trent Williams and Deebo Samuel, and you're making them more confident than they already are, holy cow, that is something that is very, very good for the 49ers. And so that's one of the things. Him in a huddle is fantastic."
Kittle also pointed out Purdy's ability to diagnose what went wrong on a play and correct it, while communicating with his receivers.
"He's an incredibly hard critic on himself," Kittle siad. "You'll have a pass, like if he didn't like it, 'Hey, what are you thinking on that? Like, I didn't like your angle out of this,' or, 'Hey, that was a shit ball. I'm really sorry about that. I'm gonna put that on you.' Or, 'Hey, you're gonna sit in the zone. Let's figure that out. So the next time we have that opportunity, will be 100 percent on it.' And he's just so efficient with that. And I just really appreciate that about him."
Listen to Kittle's full interview above.