49ers news: Brock Purdy says elbow feels 'normal,' CBS Sports predicts Patrick Willis makes HOF

Brock Purdy told reporters he feels no pain in his surgically repaired elbow during 49ers training camp. Plus a Pro Football Hall of Fame prediction.

The San Francisco 49ers have one more week of training camp to go before kicking off their 2023 preseason campaign on the road against an old regional rival, the Las Vegas Raiders.

While head coaches Kyle Shanahan and Josh McDaniels will use discretion when it comes to deciding who plays and who doesn't during this exhibition contest, all fans will want to know is whether or not now-Raiders quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo got to square off against the signal-caller who ultimately replaced him last season, Brock Purdy.

Purdy, of course, hasn't thrown in a game situation (camp practices don't count) since suffering a torn UCL in his throwing elbow in the NFC Championship loss against the Philadelphia Eagles last January.

Originally expected to miss all of the preseason and potentially a few weeks into the regular season following surgery, it was quite the recovery to have him back in time for training camp.

Was that a good idea, though?

Brock Purdy says 'I feel like normal' when asked about his surgically repaired elbow

Rushing Purdy back could potentially open up additional risks and complications, although those decisions are best left to the medical professionals who oversaw Purdy's surgery and subsequent recovery.

As far as how he was feeling, though, Purdy told the Associated Press that things were progressing well and he felt no discomfort:

"For me, I feel like normal when I’m out there, so I feel like I just got to get into a rhythm and play and go through progressions and just play quarterback. It’s not really, ‘Hey, I have to get tackled here just so I feel good about my arm.’ There’s nothing like that, that goes through my mind. So, I just play football, I go through my reads, and I feel normal."

The second-year quarterback echoed similar sentiments to ESPN's Stephania Bell:

That "little tightness" might raise some alarm bells for some, but it doesn't appear as if he's saying it's different than anything he experienced when he took the NFL by storm late last season.

With the Niners all but crowning Purdy as their unquestioned starter entering 2023, that's a very good thing.

CBS Sports predicts one 49ers legend makes Hall of Fame in 2024, leaves out another Niners legend

In case you missed it, the induction of the 2023 Pro Football Hall of Fame class took place over the weekend, kicked off by the first exhibition game of the season between the New York Jets and Cleveland Browns, each franchise having at least one player enshrined in Canton.

Every year, though, there are snubs and omissions. And San Francisco owns two of the bigger snubs, one in recent history and one that stretches back decades.

Running back Roger Craig, one of only three NFL players in the exclusive 1,000/1,000 club (1,000 yards rushing and 1,000 yards receiving in a single season), is still surprisingly omitted from the Hall of Fame, but he's on the list of semifinalists for the Senior, Coach/Contributor category.

CBS Sports' Bryan DeArdo put together a prediction of what the 2024 Pro Football Hall of Fame class would look like.

And he left Craig out. That appears to be a trend.

However, DeArdo did include another 49ers legend, linebacker Patrick Willis, who was snubbed from being a first-ballot Hall of Famer during his first year of eligibility but should at least receive his gold jacket for what was arguably the most exemplary career for a linebacker in recent football history, one that was ultimately cut short in 2015 because of injuries.

At least DeArdo got that part of his prediction correct (or so we hope).

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