During the NFC Championship Game, George Kittle approached his quarterback, Brock Purdy, asking if he could throw left-handed. Purdy had suffered a tear of the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in his right elbow and could barely grip a football, much less throw one, prompting the question from the San Francisco 49ers tight end.

"Dude, he wanted to win," Purdy told Jason and Travis Kelce on their New Heights podcast, recorded last week.


Purdy underwent surgery on March 10. As a result, he cannot throw with his right arm until June but has taken this opportunity to at least practice a little with his left arm.

"Yeah, just throwing the ball lefty, just around the house and stuff," Purdy said. "Yeah, got to be ready for anything at this point."


Purdy's backup in the playoffs, Josh Johnson, left the NFC Championship Game with a concussion, prompting Purdy to return to the field. Although, it was mainly to hand the football off to the running backs. With no healthy quarterbacks available, the 49ers' fate was sealed.

How is the 23-year-old doing now that he is over six weeks removed from the procedure to repair the ligament?

"Doing good, man," Purdy responded. "Just taking it one day at a time, doing the rehab. Obviously, I can work out and do all that with my body and stuff. It's just my arm. Got to get it right. So it's going good, though."


Purdy was last year's rookie sensation. No one expected much from him, the last overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft—dubbed "Mr. Irrelevant." Purdy replaced an injured Jimmy Garoppolo on December 4 and led the 49ers to eight consecutive wins before suffering his injury.

The young quarterback's first start came against Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on December 11. Purdy became the first rookie quarterback to beat the future Hall of Famer, with his Niners winning 35-7.

"Yeah, it was a dream, man," Purdy said of beating Brady. "Just seeing him after and, obviously, we've won, which was special. But just seeing him after and being unable to dap him up, I was, like, standing there looking at him because he's talking to some players. I'm like, This can't be real. I mean, that's just what it felt like. It felt like a dream."

The hope is that Purdy will be cleared to play sometime in September, leaving the window open to former No. 3 overall picks Trey Lance and Sam Darnold to compete to be the starter until Purdy can suit up again.

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