San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy is hoping for a six-month recovery time once he undergoes surgery to repair the tear of the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in his right elbow. He will undergo the procedure on February 22, making his timeline for a return toward the end of the preseason.
That's assuming everything goes as planned.
"In terms of the surgery, going down to Dallas for a surgeon named Keith Meister, well known, and he's the best at doing UCL repairs and surgeries and everything," Purdy said Thursday on KNBR's Papa & Lund show. "So I trust him. He does like 200-plus of these a year, so one of the best of the best. So in good hands."
While multiple MRI results finally clarified the confusing situation for the quarterback, there is a possible scenario where the surgeon is performing the procedure and decides that some additional work is necessary, impacting the quarterback's recovery time.
"Everyone's saying it would be the best for just my career moving forward to get the surgery and get the repair with an internal brace," Purdy explained. "Still, there could be some question as to getting a hybrid surgery, which is reconstruction with the internal brace.
"So we're going into it thinking the repair with the internal brace, for sure. All the surgeons have said that and that's what we're hoping for, and get a six-month recovery in and be ready to [training] camp."
Purdy confirmed that Meister could perform the expected procedure but call an audible based on what he sees, switching things up to add the reconstruction to the internal brace.
"Yeah, that's Dr. Meister's call," Purdy shared. "He's done this year after year with the best of the best with MLB pitchers. So he's definitely seen this kind of thing happen, and he's going to make the best call, and not just for the heck of it. It's obviously for the best call for my career moving forward. And he knows what's best, and he's going to make the best decision for us, so it'll be good."
Why wait for the surgery, delaying his timeline for returning? That was out of Purdy's hands. The doctors wanted the process to go smoothly. That required waiting for much of the inflammation and fluid in the elbow to subside.
"That's what a lot of the surgeons said is the best way, the best option, so that's how we're rolling with it," Purdy said. "And yeah, they said I'll be able to start throwing and get onto a program after three months or so and then be ready come [training] camp."
You can listen to the entire conversation with Purdy below.