John Lynch joined KNBR this morning, and one of the first questions for the San Francisco 49ers general manager was about his injured second-year quarterback. How is Brock Purdy doing nearly two months after surgery to repair the tear of the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in his right elbow, an injury suffered during the NFC Championship Game?
"First of all, he's here," Lynch said on the Murph & Mac show. "He's working hard each and every day, and our staff has done a really nice job working with his surgeon and his [physical therapy] guy down in Arizona. So we had to get that all kind of coordinated so that Brock felt comfortable being up here, and we got that accomplished. So Brock's here working with his teammates. They're in phase two."
Purdy took over as the 49ers' starting quarterback after Trey Lance went down in Week 2 with a season-ending ankle injury, and Jimmy Garoppolo went down in Week 13 with a broken foot. Purdy, the last overall pick in the 2022 draft, led San Francisco to eight consecutive wins before suffering his injury against the Philadelphia Eagles, ending the team's impressive run.
The 23-year-old quarterback is expected to be sidelined until late August or early September. However, he will start throwing again in June as he ramps up his workload through the latter half of his recovery.
"He's not out there throwing yet," Lynch continued. "That's going to happen around week 12 (12 weeks after surgery), [which] is kind of the next inflection point. But he's doing really good, doing everything that he can do. As you know, that's just Brock's personality, and it's great to see him out here every day."
At this point, the timeline for Purdy's return is conjecture, as everyone heals differently from this type of surgery. However, the team believes it will know more about the quarterback's timeline once he begins throwing. While the 49ers remain hopeful that Purdy can find a way to get back sometime during training camp, they are preparing as if he won't be available at the start of the season—just in case.
Lance and Sam Darnold will compete to be the Week 1 starter should Purdy be unavailable.
"I just got a report from the trainers," Lynch said. "So week 12, that's where he can actually go out, start lobbing a football. And according to the surgeon, you start getting a little better read on exactly where he's at right about then."
Lynch added, "I think that's just kind of an indicator of where he's at. And then obviously you have to work up your strength, your stamina, you have to increase reps, distance, all those things. But that's going to be well thought out, and he's doing well. I think you just take it day by day. It's cliche, but it's the best thing you can do, and he's done a great job of doing that."
You can listen to the entire conversation with Lynch below.
