The San Francisco 49ers and Brock Purdy are close to deciding surgery path for the 23-year-old quarterback. According to Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area, the plans are nearing finalization, with more discussions taking place on Monday. The likely path appears to be the plan that involved a six-month recovery time, making it more likely that Purdy will be available for training camp and the 2023 season, assuming there are no complications or setbacks.
Purdy sustained a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow during the NFC Championship Game loss against the Philadelphia Eagles. He returned to the game because his backup, Josh Johnson, was ruled out with a concussion. However, Purdy could not throw the football, leading to an altered game plan that only included running the football.
"The likely outcome of surgery will be a consensus toward Purdy requiring an internal brace, and not the longer recovery required for Tommy John surgery, the source said," wrote Maiocco.
The 49ers beat writer added, "If everything goes as anticipated, Purdy would undergo a procedure to repair the UCL with a collagen-coated suture tape to provide stability to the repaired ligament. That procedure requires a three-month recovery and then a three-month buildup to return to playing football."
Last week, the 49ers stated that the repair of the ligament damage was still the most likely option, rather than reconstruction, which would require a lengthier recovery.
"In an instance like this, there's a lot of smart people out there," general manager John Lynch said at the team's end-of-season press conference. "You want to make sure you're thorough. He's continuing to go through that process.
"I think the positive bit of news is that it seems to be consistent that the right approach is that one that takes about that six-month mark. Now, everybody will also say you never know until you get in there. Every surgeon will tell you that on every surgery. You always like getting in to see exactly—the MRI tells you a lot of the picture.
"So they're continuing to work through that process, but we seem encouraged by the prognosis that that's kind of where it's at."
Purdy recently expressed hope that he will be ready for the 2023 season.
"If that is the case ... I'll be ready come [training] camp, and honestly, what matters to me most is being able to play for the season," the quarterback said last week.
Assuming everything goes as planned, the 49ers anticipate Purdy will be full-go once he is ready to return and not require a ramp-up period by that point.
"That was a cool thing for me to hear about," head coach Kyle Shanahan said, "that once three months is over, they start the rehab of just building the arm back slowly, and by six months, it's built back. And that's when I start to ask questions. 'Does that mean ease him in and stuff like that, like you would think of ACLs and things like that?'
"And they said, 'No, the build-up's been from three to six. And at six months, he is the same dude and full go.' So that was the most encouraging part that I heard."
Purdy finished his rookie regular season completing 67.1 percent of his passes for 1,374 yards, 13 touchdowns, and four interceptions through the seven games in which he threw a pass, including his five starts. The rookie had a passer rating of 107.3, which led the NFL among quarterbacks with more than 21 pass attempts.
Purdy completed 65.1 percent of his passes for 569 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions through his three playoff game appearances.
