Brock Purdy did not practice with his San Francisco 49ers teammates on Sunday. No need for concern. It was a scheduled rest/recovery day for the second-year quarterback.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan doesn't want to overwork Purdy, who is attempting to return from offseason surgery to repair the torn ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in his right elbow, an injury sustained in January during the NFC Championship Game.
Purdy did not participate in the 49ers' first training camp practice but got significant work with his teammates on Thursday and Friday. What are the coach's early impressions of his likely starter?
"I think he's done great," Shanahan told reporters on Sunday. "I mean, he's come back, he's had no arm troubles. It's been totally healthy, and I think he's getting all his timing back, his rhythm. I was really impressed with him in his two practices."
Purdy spoke with reporters last week after his first practice back since January. While he feels good enough to do whatever the team asks of him, he understands the cautious approach. It's been less than five months since he underwent surgery, and most didn't expect him to return until the second half of August.
"I feel like I'm good enough to play in 11-on-11 football," Purdy shared this past Thursday. "And so, we talked about that when I got back here with Shanahan, and basically I told him, 'Hey, I feel good enough and confident enough that if I got into an 11-on-11 situation, I can make every throw.'
"So that's the conversation that we had, and they gave me the green light to go out there and go. And obviously, the medical staff told them—and they've been with me this whole time, throwing in the offseason—they gave Shanahan the green light.
"... But yeah, I feel good enough to play football. Right now, I can't, [so it will be] 11-on-11. Still got to work up the volume and just continue to get better every day."
Shanahan has been impressed with the quarterback's efforts to return to the practice field so quickly. The early return didn't surprise him at all.
"Brock's just so detailed and committed in everything he does," Shanahan said. "He didn't miss one day. I mean, every rep that he takes to get better in his health, he's just deliberate in everything he does—how committed he was to doing that, to being here, to going down to Florida, to being in Arizona.
"Brock, if he was going to have a setback and something went wrong, was the only way we felt he wasn't going to be ahead of schedule by what he does."
