Brock Purdy is feeling good as he tosses footballs around the practice field. This week, the San Francisco 49ers quarterback participated in three consecutive practices for the first time since January, a sign that he remains on schedule to be the team's Week 1 starter against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

"Yeah, it feels great, honestly," Purdy told Peter King of NBC Sports this week. "This was the first time we had a three-day block where I've thrown three days in a row. And to be able to go out to practice and still make all the throws, and with velocity, on time, it gave me a lot of confidence, and I'm really comfortable with where I'm at.


"And so we've had a great plan this whole time. All the doctors and physical therapists that I'm working with, everyone has aligned everything right to be in this moment, ready to go, going into, obviously, the second preseason game and then game one.

"And so I feel good. That's where I'm at, and I'm confident to be ready to roll for this year."

The quarterback does not doubt that he will be ready for the start of the regular season. All his training camp reps were with the first-team offense, signaling the 49ers' confidence that he would be ready, too.

Purdy may not have always been so confident about his recovery. After a hit from Philadelphia Eagles pass rusher Haason Reddick, the quarterback immediately knew he had suffered a serious injury.

"There was electricity, fire," Purdy said. "All that kind of stuff was shooting down my arm. It felt like it was all numb."


Purdy tried to play through it after his backup, Josh Johnson, suffered a concussion. The rookie quarterback couldn't throw the football, though. He was heartbroken, not for himself, but for his teammates, who had worked hard to reach this point.

Purdy had suffered a torn ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in his right elbow. He finally underwent surgery on March 10. It had initially been scheduled for February 22. However, Dr. Keith Meister recommended it be postponed due to the remaining inflammation in Purdy's elbow.

"My dad and I were just so—it's not that we were mad—but we were just upset, like, man, we wanted to get this done and get rolling and thinking about next season. Once we found out right then and there in Texas, doc was like, 'Hey, it's too inflamed. You've got to do more rehab, get this inflammation to calm down and then have surgery.' So once my dad and I were told No, I remember just being so upset in the moment, like, 'Man, we're never going to be able to get this done so I can be back in time.'

"My dad was like, 'You know what? We're faithful people. It's all God's timing.' He goes, 'We've just got to have patience here. It's for the right thing. It's for your arm to calm down, and we got to do the surgery right for your career.'

"And so, yeah, that's where we were at. We definitely remember that exact moment, how frustrated we were. But looking back on it was the right move."


San Francisco cleared Purdy to practice at the start of training camp, less than five months after his surgery. The quarterback fought hard to beat the timeline initially presented to him. He didn't let the circumstances deter him. Why wasn't the 23-year-old discouraged by the situation?

"I feel like I was really rooted in my faith," Purdy shared. "I had a great family around me, and from day one being here, the organization, the coaches, the players, it's just a very high-class organization. Everything's well run from the top down."

What does Purdy want to see from his second NFL season?

"I feel like just being able to take the next step in situational football," Purdy responded. "Obviously, I showed that I can go in and manage the offense and put a drive together, put up points on the board, win games. And so for myself, it's how can I be the best in certain situations of football? Going back to last year, watching some moments where it's like, Hey, man, you got to clean this up. You got to be smart and get the ball to the right guys, on time, check the ball down, throw the ball away, and grow in those kinds of areas.

"And so I feel like that's the next step for me. But at the same time, how can we win games, do it consistently, and push this offense and team to be the best versions of ourselves? And if we can do that, the sky's the limit."




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