The 49ers have been vague, and inconsistent, regarding Brock Purdy’s timeline for return since surgery on his throwing elbow. Now that he’s back on the field, things seem much more optimistic.
Both John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan have said recently that they think that Purdy being available for Week 1 is on the table, after saying earlier this offseason that it could be as late as Week 4.
“The vibe and just what is coming out of that building, is so much more positive in the past two weeks than it had been,” 49ers beat writer Matt Maiocco told Murph & Mac on Thursday. “It was always a kind of wait and see, hope he can be ready. Starting with Kyle Shanahan, who is certainly not one of the most optimistic people you’ll ever talk to.
“Last week, he said ‘we’re feeling good he can be ready Week 1’ and then John Lynch yesterday, he drew a pretty rosy picture about where Brock Purdy is. When you don’t see it, you don’t know exactly what’s going on because you always kind of have this impression of he can’t start throwing until he’s three months in, but clearly he’s putting in a lot of work and going through stuff, so he’s working that elbow. Now I think that throwing program is starting to ramp up.”
It’s for those reasons that Maiocco would bet on Purdy being the Week 1 starter at Pittsburgh.
“If I were a betting man right now, and the odds were who’s going to be the quarterback for the 49ers on Sept. 10 vs. the Pittsburgh Steelers, my money would go on Brock Purdy,” Maiocco concluded.