San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan never had a doubt. He always believed his second-year quarterback, Brock Purdy, would be cleared in time to be the team's Week 1 starter. Things are trending in that direction, despite everything initially pointing toward a mid-to-late August return. And even that seemed optimistic, given the injury.
Purdy suffered a torn ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in his right elbow in January, during the NFC Championship Game. He didn't undergo surgery until March, with most expecting about a six-month recovery.
"There was never a time I didn't think he would be cleared," Shanahan told The Athletic's Tim Kawakami on "The TK Show" podcast. "I never went into it, just talking to other quarterbacks who have been through this stuff, thinking, all right, he's not going to be able to play this year."
It's July 25, and the 49ers have cleared Purdy to practice.
That doesn't mean Purdy will be full-go from the start. There is a ramp-up plan to ease the quarterback up to a full workload. But this is certainly better news than anyone outside of the team expected. It looks like the 49ers' optimism was justified.
Even when Purdy's surgery was delayed due to swelling in his arm, Shanahan still believed his quarterback might return during the middle of training camp, enough time to get ready for a Week 1 start. That doesn't mean the coach wasn't stressed about the situation.
Entering the offseason, Shanahan's other young quarterback, Trey Lance, was coming off an injury himself. He suffered a season-ending ankle injury during Week 2 of last season. That prompted the 49ers to bring in some insurance via free agency, a player the coach has liked for a while—Sam Darnold.
Less than five months later, Shanahan believes he has a loaded quarterback room with Purdy, Lance, Darnold, and another veteran, Brandon Allen. Everything seems to have worked out for the best.
Purdy's quick recovery did force the coach to re-examine his training-camp plan, though.
"So to come in after vacation and be told that Brock's good to go, I was like, 'All right, I got to think of how we're going to rep this right away,'" Shanahan explained. "So that's all that the coaches and I had to go over. But it's kind of a really good surprise because he's going to get all of camp. We'll ease him up into it.
"And being able to go on the throwing program that he is, taking some days off, it still gives Trey and Sam some of those [first-team] reps that I believe that they need to give themselves a chance to differentiate themselves through all this based off of what Brock did last year."
While Shanahan and general manager John Lynch have indicated that a healthy Purdy is the frontrunner to be the team's starter, the coach isn't guaranteeing anything.
"Now maybe he has a setback," Shanahan said. "Maybe he's rusty and stuff because of his injury. I don't know. I don't think he will be. I think he'll get back to that point. And then these other guys can play too. Maybe he does get an injury, and Sam or Trey get an opportunity just like Brock did last year."
