The San Francisco 49ers are entangled in yet another quarterback controversy, with Brock Purdy at the forefront of the talk due to a UCL injury that he sustained during the team's loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
Given the rarity of the injury to a quarterback in the NFL, the 49ers have stressed caution on Purdy's recovery timetable, while expressing optimism about his return by the beginning of the season.
Speaking with former NFL offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg, respected sports medicine doctor Jess Flynn, who has worked with NFL teams, shared that the 49ers should expect Purdy to return to his former self once back from injury.
"When he does come back, studies show that you should expect a similar level of play compared to before the injury," Flynn shared.
Barring any setbacks, Brock Purdy should be the same QB he was last season following UCL surgery @DocFlynnNFL and former #NFL coach @MartyMornhinweg discuss Purdy's progress ⤵️
— The 33rd Team (@The33rdTeamFB) June 4, 2023
UCL injuries are more common in baseball pitchers, where a repairment can actually strengthen one's arm, due to the injury occurring over time, but that's not the case with Purdy's, whose incident was an acute, or sudden, one.
"Interestingly, in pitchers, when they have [any] kind of surgery on their Ulnar Collateral Ligament(UCL), they usually get better. That's because their injuries tend to be over time where the ligament slowly tears. So, they've been playing with this crap ligament for a long time, they get it replaced with something real and suddenly, their fastball is much faster. Not the case with a quarterback with an acute injury, but you should expect to get that same level of play," Flynn said.
While the most important element of his recovery is getting Purdy back on the field only when at 100%, the studies bode well for his future and returning back to his former self after building up the arm strength and relieving the stiffness.
You can listen to the entire interview with Dr. Flynn on The 33rd Team here.