San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch, speaking with reporters at the NFL Scouting Combine on Tuesday, provided an update on quarterback Brock Purdy. The first-year player started eight games for the Niners this past season, helping the team reach the NFC Championship Game before suffering an ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) tear in his right elbow during the first quarter against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Purdy was scheduled to undergo surgery on February 22 to repair the tear. However, the surgeon, Dr. Keith Meister, recommended postponing the procedure due to continued inflammation in the quarterback's arm. The two sides will reconvene in March.
"We're very thankful [for Dr. Meister], and we're hopeful that when they meet down in Arizona this week, they can move forward, and then it would be early next week as to when they would go in there and have the surgery," Lynch told reporters.
Lynch is grateful that Dr. Meister called him and the 49ers when the decision to postpone the surgery was made.
"That's a tough decision to make, but I really appreciate the courage and the conviction to make that decision," Lynch said. "It's all about the best outcome. Is it ideal? No. You want, for a variety of reasons—time being number one—you want every waking minute that you have. But ultimately, he's 22 years old.
"We want the best outcome, and that's what Dr. Meister made, a really tough decision, and we're very appreciative, and he's done thousands of these surgeries, and when you have all the swelling out, when you have all the stiffness out, is when he's had the best success with the outcomes."
Purdy is expected to miss at least six months after the surgery to repair the ligament and insert an internal brace. Dr. Meister may opt for a hybrid procedure involving the reconstruction of the ligament with the internal brace, increasing that recovery time to seven to nine months, per Purdy, pushing back the quarterback's potential return from September to October or December. That decision won't be made until the surgery begins.
"A lot of people talk about the ambiguity because you hear, 'Well, you never know until you get in there,'" Lynch shared. "I get told that every time one of our players has a surgery, and I think that's surgeons just covering their bases. They never know.
"MRIs tell a whole lot of the picture, but you really, truly don't know until you get in there and see exactly what's going on. So we're doing lots of praying and pulling for Brock. And he's a tireless worker, so he's doing everything that he can, and hopefully, we get some clarity moving forward here."
Purdy finished his rookie regular season completing 67.1 percent of his passes for 1,374 yards with 13 touchdowns and four interceptions. He added 569 passing yards with three touchdowns in the playoffs, managing only four pass attempts in the NFC Championship Game due to the injury.