Ever since San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy injured his elbow in the NFC Championship game in January, it has been difficult to keep track of the twists and turns of his prognosis and the recovery.
It did not help that surgery was vital to figuring out just how bad the injury was, and that surgery had to be delayed until March because of persistent inflammation.
After the surgery, Purdy himself had doubts on when he would be able to begin throwing much less prepare for the 2023 season.
Alas, there is good news, and the bearer of it was 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan who has to be overjoyed about it.
What Shanahan Said
Kyle Shanahan says that barring setbacks, the 49ers expect Brock Purdy back by training camp. Purdy has already been making throwing motions with a towel – not yet with a ball (that's expected in June)
H/T @LombardiHimself pic.twitter.com/oUtWSGyU8D— 49erscast (@49erscast1) May 11, 2023
Purdy is already making throwing motions with his arm, using a towel.
Unless something happens to slow down his recovery, Shanahan expects Purdy to be at 49ers training camp in late July.
This is a significant development because if he is 100% at that time, there will be a heated quarterback competition between Purdy, Trey Lance, and to a lesser degree Sam Darnold.
Who should be the 49ers QB1? ⛏️ pic.twitter.com/AgIVWpw9j2
— PFF (@PFF) May 7, 2023
Though many are singing the praises of Sam Darnold and no one can read Shanahan’s mind, it seems most likely that Darnold is there in a backup capacity in the event that history repeats itself and the team has more injured quarterbacks than healthy ones.
49ers training camp and preseason games are going to be fun to watch because of the quarterback uncertainty that once again engulfs this team, for the fourth consecutive year.
This Makes Sense
Fans should have probably connected the dots that things were going well with Purdy.
There were reports that Lance, who turned 23 earlier this week, was potentially on the trading block earlier in the offseason.
#49ers QB Trey Lance turned 23 today
He is younger than 7 of their 9 picks from this year’s draft
George Kittle got him a 🎂 and some long candles waiting to be lit (kind of like Lance’s NFL career 2 years into it, but he’s healthy, leading offseason practices while BP heals.) pic.twitter.com/m3fWHHIhCP
— Cam Inman (@CamInman) May 9, 2023
The 49ers would never consider trading Lance if Purdy was not expected to be healthy.
Conclusion
We are not yet sure of the entire 49ers 2023 schedule; that is happening in a couple of hours.
However, one game did leak, and it is a rematch of the NFC Championship happening in Week 13.
No love lost in the City of Brotherly Love.
— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) May 11, 2023
The game will have a 1:25 PM EST kickoff on December 3 in Philadelphia, and the 49ers definitely want a different outcome.
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