Brock Purdy has successful elbow surgery, still has a long way to go

49ers quarterback Brock Purdy underwent successful elbow surgery, but he still has an awfully long road to full recovery ahead of him.

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy just reached an important milestone in the wake of suffering a torn UCL during the 2023 NFC Championship game against the Philadelphia Eagles last January.

According to a report from NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo on Friday, Purdy just underwent successful surgery to repair the damage suffered during that particular game.

Purdy was originally going to have the surgery earlier, but inflammation in the elbow convinced Dr. Keith Meister of MLB’s Texas Rangers that delaying the procedure would be best.

It appears that inflammation went down sufficiently enough for Meister to perform the operation.

The successful surgery is great news for Purdy and the Niners, yes. But it’s only the latest step in what’ll be a long road to recovery.

Brock Purdy still has a 6-month recovery window from surgery

Mixed in with the original report that Purdy would require surgery was his recovery window.

Assuming there wouldn’t be any complications, numerous reports highlighted that the procedure would require a six-month recovery after it was performed.

Even Garafolo’s report highlighted that in a similar fashion by saying Purdy could begin throwing again in three months, but the ramp-up in conditioning would likely take a good deal of time thereafter.

Niners Nation’s Akash Anavarathan broke it down exceptionally well:

Of course, recoveries are fluid in nature, and each athlete can be different with regard to them. Purdy could end up being ahead of schedule by the time training camp rolls around, or there could just as easily be delays in his return.

That said, the likelihood of Purdy being ready to go by the beginning of the regular season this upcoming September remains highly doubtful.

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Purdy is already going to miss San Francisco’s offseason workouts, such as organized team activities and minicamps.

Fellow quarterback Trey Lance, who suffered a broken ankle early last season, is poised to return and has the inside track to land the starting job to open up the year, if for no other reason than he’s available and will be fully healthy.

That’s a massive benefit for Lance, yes. But Purdy might have the leg up in any head-to-head competition when both are fully healthy.

At least based on performance at the NFL level.

Still, Purdy’s arm strength is going to be a massive question mark, as it wasn’t a strength of his anyway entering the 2022 NFL Draft and through his rookie season. If that arm strength either regresses or is hindered by the injury/surgery, Purdy’s stock value won’t be anywhere near as high.

That said, all signs are still pointing favorably for him, and news of the successful procedure is about as good as it gets for now.

The rest is speculation only.