Getty Image / Kevin Sabitus
The San Francisco 49ers had the NFL’s strangest progreassion at quarterback last season.
They opened the year with Trey Lance taking over as the starter from Jimmy Garoppolo.
He was injured in the 2nd game of the year and the 49ers were forced to turn back to Garoppolo.
He started their next 10 games and had the team positioned to win the NFC West. Then he suffered an injury as well.
That left the 49ers with their 3rd string QB, who happened to be the last player selected in the 2022 NFL Draft, Brock Purdy.
Purdy quickly proved he would be anything but irrelevant.
He won his first 5 starts, putting the 9ers in the running for the NFC’s top seed and the offense actually improved with him under center.
He led the San Francisco 49ers all the way to the NFC Championship Game and had some believing the team could take down the Philadelphia Eagles for a spot in the Super Bowl.
Unfortunately, he suffered an elbow injury on the first drive against the Eagles.
The injury left him needing surgery on the elbow, but he needed to wait for some swelling in the elbow to go down before the surgery could be performed, leaving some uncertainty about when he would return.
According to NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo, Purdy underwent the surgery today and now he is expected to begin throwing again in 3 months.
#49ers QB Brock Purdy underwent successful surgery on his elbow today, source says. It was the anticipated UCL repair with an internal brace. The expectation is Purdy will begin throwing in three months and build up his strength from there. pic.twitter.com/YQbDzBMinh
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) March 10, 2023
This is good news for the 49ers as it seems to put Purdy on track to be ready for the start of the season.
There will be big expectations for Purdy heading into next season and now he should have nearly all of the summer to prepare to live up to those expectations.