Finally a bit of good news regarding the 49ers’ quarterback situation.
Brock Purdy underwent successful surgery to repair the ulnar collateral ligament in his throwing elbow, according to Mike Garafolo of NFL Network. Purdy’s timeline is to begin throwing in three months, with the idea he can resume practicing six months from now.
The surgery was originally postponed a couple weeks ago due to swelling in the elbow, which eliminated the possibility that Purdy would be healthy for training camp. Six months from today is Sept. 10. The 2023 regular season starts on Thursday Sept. 8, meaning that Purdy will certainly not be available for Week 1, unless he recovers well ahead of schedule.
The good news is that Purdy’s surgery could have revealed further complications that required Tommy John surgery, and knocked him out for much of the year. Now it appears Purdy should be ready to take the field during the season’s first month, but will have to beat out Trey Lance who is going to begin the season as the starter.
There are worse problems to have for the 49ers. They have two young quarterbacks, one who was excellent last year and one who remains an unknown but had enough raw talent that the team dealt three first-round picks for him. It would stand to reason that SF is still in the market for a third QB on the open market for insurance purposes (or in the draft), but the news of Purdy’s successful surgery makes their situation far less dire than it could have been.