The San Francisco 49ers have found themselves in a quarterback conundrum for the third consecutive season, with 2022 seventh-rounder Brock Purdy at the forefront of the conversation due to a torn UCL that he sustained in the NFC Championship Game that is expected to sideline him for six months.
That led the team to sign former Carolina Panthers quarterback Sam Darnold to a one-year deal, allowing him to compete with former first-rounder Trey Lance for the backup job, and potentially even the starting job, should Purdy not be ready for Week 1.
However, Purdy's recovery is reportedly going on track, as head coach Kyle Shanahan said last week that he anticipates that the seventh-rounder will be able to begin throwing this week, right at the three-month line of his surgery.
Earlier this morning, NFL Network's Ian Rapoport clarified some details on his recovery while speaking on The Pat McAfee Show, sharing that he would be on track, should he begin throwing this week, as currently expected.
"Okay, so let's say he's throwing this week," Rapoport said on Pat McAfee Show. "First of all, that would be really good news because that would mean he's basically either on track or like a small bit ahead of schedule. That is all very good."
With the current timeline, Purdy would potentially be cleared around early September, right before Week 1, which is what the hope was when he entered surgery: around a six-month timeline for recovery.
"So what this means is he now has a three-month—based on the original timeframe—has a three-month time where he's got to start throwing and then get to a point where he is regularly throwing without issue," Rapoport said. "This should be right before the start of the season, probably early, early September, where he should be around 100 percent. This is all very good news."
With that timeline, Purdy could potentially even be out there during Week 1, or more likely shortly thereafter, due to Kyle Shanahan's remarks that he'd prefer for practice time prior to in-game action.
"So if that is the case, if he's throwing this week and hopefully he has no setbacks, if this continues to be the case, then you are looking at, realistically, he could maybe start Week 1," Rapoport said. "Or if not Week 1, pretty shortly thereafter. Like if it's late, late, late August or really early September when he's now finally 100 percent, you're looking at around the start of the season or maybe a little bit after. This is all good."
The 49ers don't have to rush Purdy back, as they have both Sam Darnold and Trey Lance, who could be in a competition for that Week 1 starting job, allowing their top option to settle back into in-game action when he's healthy.
Regardless, Rapoport shared that Purdy's recovery is going as well as the 49ers could've hoped, post-surgery.
"And if someone like Sam Darnold or maybe be, I guess, Trey Lance, if one of those guys starts a week or two, that's also fine because the most important thing for the Niners is that someone who they believe to be a massive, massive part of their future is fully healthy with no issue," Rapoport shared. "But to answer your question, this is probably going about as well as they could have hoped after the surgery."