49ers Notebook: Jordan Watkins steps up for injured WRs; Kaelon Black’s mostly positive performance; What happened on Brock Purdy’s INTs?

The San Francisco 49ers may have seen their six-game winning streak come to an end on Sunday, but one poor performance wasn't enough to completely dampen the spirits of the team as they head into their bye week.

After taking a 14-3 lead over the Falcons at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Sunday, the 49ers made a mess of things en route to a 29-20 loss that saw them give up 23 consecutive points amid a comedy of errors. Four turnovers (compared to none for Atlanta), ill-timed penalties, and a missed extra point were among the things that did the 49ers in on Sunday, but there was still a glass-half-full attitude, all things considered.

The 49ers were heading into the game with a 6-0 record and were favored to add their seventh win over the 2-4 Falcons, but a slew of injuries at the wide receiver position to go with an early East Coast start on a short week made this game feel like anything but a given. And the game turned out to be a dud, as just about everything that could go wrong did go wrong for the 49ers from a performance standpoint. Despite that, they were still in the thick of things in the end as they had the ball with just over four minutes to play on a possible game-winning drive before quarterback Brock Purdy threw the second of his two interceptions.

The fact that the 49ers came within striking distance of overcoming that adversity led a few players to think positively about what happened despite everything that went wrong.

"It's damn near impossible to win a game when you have four turnovers and don't get any yourself. And it still felt like we had a chance," fullback Kyle Juszczyk said after the loss on Sunday. "I think we have a heck of a football team, and I don't think today changes that."

The 49ers now head into their bye week, which comes at an opportune time. The team will have a chance to heal up some injuries and perhaps add a player or two before returning to the field on November 8 against the Las Vegas Raiders in perhaps the best state they've been in since Week 1.

"All I think it's going to do is spark a bigger fire underneath us," tight end George Kittle said. "All we want to do is win. We want to continue to win, we want to put good tape out there. And it's definitely going to sour our entire bye week, and I think that's good, because I think when we get back next week, I think our guys are going to be incredibly focused and have a great intent going into (the game against the Raiders)... But yeah, I think it's going to sour everybody's week... I'm not going to be incredibly happy the entire time. But I think that's good. I mean, would I rather have won? Absolutely. Way more fun. But hey, like I said, it could be worse. We didn't have a bunch of guys get injured today. I think we made it out pretty healthy. So, anyway, we got we got guys coming back (after the bye). So, I'm excited about that."

Sharing that optimism was linebacker Fred Warner, who said Sunday he's anticipating what lies ahead while adding he's having as much fun as he's had as a football player with this 49ers team.

"Unfortunately, we're not going undefeated this year," Warner said. "That's how I look at it, right? So I said all along, it's not just about winning, right? I said we have to continue to get better as a team. I feel like today we didn't get better. We we took a step back. That doesn't mean that we can't use this the right way, get healthy, get our mind right for what we have ahead of us and be better going forward, right? So I'm excited about the challenge. I love that group in there. This is the most fun I've had playing football, is playing with this group. We have so much talent and we have so much so many guys that play the right way. If we can clean things up, which I know we will, then we have a great chance every single week that we step out there."

Now that we've started off this edition of 49ers Notebook on about as positive of a note as possible following Sunday's loss, we'll dive into some of the not-so-good moments of Sunday's game, while also discussing a couple of key performances from young players. Let's keep it going...

Jordan Watkins misses his big moment but still makes an impression

By and large, wide receiver Jordan Watkins had a solid outing for the 49ers on Sunday, delivering three catches for 56 yards on a day when they needed someone to step up and compensate for injuries at the position. But Watkins could have had himself a truly special day, if the ball had simply bounced a little more in his favor.

The 49ers were trailing 26-14 when they took possession after a Falcons touchdown early in the fourth quarter. They needed a spark, and they got one right off the bat from Watkins, who caught a pass for 35 yards on the second play of the possession. Watkins came close to another catch two plays later when a pass from Purdy fell just incomplete, and then two plays after that he seemed to have hauled in his first NFL touchdown on a dazzling leaping catch in the end zone.

The catch was ruled a touchdown on the field and would have brought the 49ers within six points with plenty of time left to play. But officials overturned the touchdown on replay, ruling that Watkins did not complete the process of the catch due to the fact he bobbled the ball when he landed out of bounds. The ball never hit the ground after Watkins got both of his feet down in the end zone, but once it left his hands while he was on the ground, the play became the equivalent of a catch out of bounds instead of a touchdown.

Momentum swung right back to the Falcons after that play, as the 49ers wound up turning the ball over on downs. It was a roller coaster of emotions for Watkins, who went from being ecstatic over the thought of catching his first NFL touchdown to confused over why the officials overturned the play.

"It's definitely hard," Watkins said Sunday. "I'm obviously sitting on the bench and looking up at the replay, and I definitely think it's a touchdown because they called it a touchdown on the field. I wasn't really sure what they said of why it wasn't a touchdown. Maybe I lost possession at the end. But at the end of the day, that's not my decision. I've just got to go but there and play ball."

Still, the game served as a step forward for Watkins, who has been limited in his opportunities since joining the 49ers as a fourth-round draft pick out of Ole Miss in 2025. Watkins entered the game with just six career catches for 108 yards in eight games, so his contributions while the 49ers were without five receivers due to injury (Mike Evans - Achilles; Deebo Samuel - hamstring; Demarcus Robinson - ankle; De'Zhaun Stribling - ankle; Ricky Pearsall - knee) will undoubtedly give the team more confidence in his ability to contribute when it matters most.

"I'm so proud of him," Juszczyk said. "He's become one of our most reliable receivers, and not just in running routes and catching balls. He's a guy that we rely on in the run game. He's one of our best blockers out there, someone we can count on."

Kittle told reporters Watkins is showing the type of improved confidence that comes with more opportunities.

"I think the more reps you get, the more confident you can become," Kittle said. "And Jordan's a guy who didn't play a lot last year, and I don't think he (played) a lot early on this season. I think he might have been a healthy scratch early in the season. And then, you know, injuries suck, but the one benefit of injuries is you get to see other guys get a chance to take advantage of their opportunity. Jordan's out there, he's done a great job with all of his blocking stuff. That's been his emphasis is all these blocking plays, whether it's pin-blocks, all this stuff, and he's done a really good job at practice. I think he's done a good job in the games. And then he's out there making really cool catches.

"I wish that touchdown would have counted for him because that was awesome, but he made a couple really big plays downfield for us when we needed him to. So, I'm just really happy for Jordan. He's taking steps forward and he's becoming a good player for us, and I think he's only going to get better."

What role Watkins plays when the 49ers start getting their receivers back remains to be seen. But he showed Sunday he has the ability to deliver in important moments, and that he should continue to grow when more chances come his way.

"I wouldn't call it pressure," Watkins said. "I feel like it was just more like it's time to step up. Whenever my number's called, just be ready to go in there and make plays. Me and Brock have been working since camp, so obviously there's a lot of trust there. We've just got to keep getting reps at it. We'll see when those guys come back, but until then, I'm ready to step up and make plays."

Not so Purdy

Sunday's game transpired in a way that presented Brock Purdy with a chance to further entrench himself as one of the NFL's top MVP candidates. Instead, Purdy's MVP chances took their first direct hit of the season.

Purdy, who entered Sunday with two interceptions over his first six games of 2026, finished the day with two more interceptions to go with 288 yards and one touchdown on 27-of-40 passing. Those interceptions both killed potential scoring drives, with one of them being a possible game-winning drive that was teed up for the 49ers as the fourth quarter was winding down.

The first interception came in the third quarter after the Falcons had taken a 19-14 lead. The 49ers had driven deep into Falcons territory and were in position for at least a good chance at a field goal when Purdy threw a pass towards the sidelines that was intercepted in spectacular fashion by safety Jessie Bates.

After the game, Purdy told reporters he was trying to throw the ball away on the play but didn't get it far enough.

"I thought maybe Christian Kirk on the scramble was going to be there," Purdy said. "But then, towards the end of the throw, as I was going to throw, I was like, 'No, it's not,' and sort of went to just throw it away by the sideline. Bates all of a sudden came across and made a play and I was like, 'Yeah, you're kidding me.' So, in that moment, I've got to completely throw the ball away if I'm not going to make an attempt to a receiver. Got to learn from that tough way."

Purdy's second interception came with the 49ers down 26-20 and just under three minutes to play. The Falcons handed the 49ers ideal field position at their own 47-yard line after shanking a punt but had the 49ers in a 3rd-and-9 situation after the start of the possession. Linebacker Kendal Daniels jumped up to grab Purdy's 3rd-and-9 pass and returned it to the 49ers' 19-yard line, setting up a field goal that would extend the Falcons' lead to 29-20.

Purdy took the blame for not seeing Daniels on the play while also giving the rookie linebacker credit for making a highlight interception.

"The linebacker was mugged up on the line of scrimmage and I thought we had an alley outside to I think it was Jordan Watkins," Purdy said. "It was there and I thought it was going to be like a drive-by kind of play, and all of a sudden I threw the ball and he came from the back side and tipped it up to himself. I didn't see him or anything. So, credit to him, he made a good play. But I don't know, in that moment I'd like to say, yeah, I need to see him, but at the same time that's pretty tough to drop back and see a backer mugged up on the line dropping from the opposite side and stuff. So, it was a good play call on them and good execution by the linebacker."

The interceptions were among a number of plays the 49ers had that helped put momentum in favor of the Falcons.

"I felt like we had momentum early in the game," Purdy said. "Then the turnovers happened, starting with the first fumble. But regardless of that, I think just coming out of the half we needed to go and sort of bring some sense of urgency to our team. I thought we did. And then obviously it was my decision of not throwing the ball away completely, (lobbed the ball) to get the interception, and that was, I thought, a huge turning point with momentum and stuff in the game. So, they did a good job with bleeding out the clock before half, kicking a field goal, going down scoring right out of the half. They did a good job on that, but at the same time I thought we still had plenty of opportunities to pick up our momentum as an offense and help out our team."

Kaelon Black's down-and-(mostly) up afternoon

Sunday's game marked one of the biggest performances of rookie running back Kaelon Black's NFL career statistically, even though it came with one of the game's tougher moments for the 49ers.

Black ran for 63 yards on 12 carries, which was just shy of the 65 yards on 14 carries he had against the Rams in Week 1. Black added his first NFL touchdown to the mix, but he also committed a key first-half fumble that killed what could have been a momentum-building moment for the 49ers.

The 49ers trailed the Falcons 14-9 at the time but had penetrated deep into Falcons territory before Black put the ball on the ground. The Falcons used the remainder of the first half to drive into 49ers' territory and add a field goal to make the score 14-12 as time expired.

"I feel like it starts with me," Black said of the fumble. "In my role that I'm playing, I can't turn the ball over. I know as a running back, 100 percent ball security is the main focus. In that moment, I lost it."

Fumble aside, Black's performance was a positive one. As was the case in Week 1, Black stepped up while McCaffrey was on the sidelines with a health-related issue. He led the 49ers in rushing on the day while the team totaled 123 yards on 23 carries.

"I thought he did some good things," head coach Kyle Shanahan said. "Thought he ran the ball well. He just (needed to) protect the ball on that one fumble, but as a whole, I thought we ran the ball real well. We just couldn't stay with it there a little bit at the end with where the score got."

And of course, the most memorable moment of the day for Black was his first touchdown, which he dedicated to his newborn son. Black's touchdown came on a 30-yard run, after which he celebrated his son's birth.

"I had to give a shout-out to him, my first born," Black said. "I thank God that he came out healthy, and that was definitely for him."

More info on: Kaelon Black, Mike Evans, Kyle Juszczyk, Christian Kirk, George Kittle, Ricky Pearsall, Brock Purdy, Demarcus Robinson, Deebo Samuel, De'Zhaun Stribling, Fred Warner, Jordan Watkins