49ers expect Brock Purdy to begin throwing this week

The San Francisco 49ers expect their second-year quarterback, Brock Purdy, to start throwing again this week. Purdy underwent surgery on March 10 to repair the tear of the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in his right elbow, an injury sustained on January 29 in the NFC Championship Game. The expectations were always for the quarterback to start throwing again in early June.

Purdy’s return timeline remains up in the air. However, the team will know more once he starts throwing again. Head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch remain hopeful that Purdy can return some time during training camp, which begins in late July and runs through August.

Until Purdy’s return, Trey Lance and Sam Darnold will compete for the backup quarterback job and a chance to start Week 1—should Purdy be unavailable. Although, Shanahan recently expressed optimism that Purdy leading the offense against the Pittsburgh Steelers on September 10 remains a possibility.

“[W]e’re hoping for Week 1, and I feel pretty optimistic about that,” Shanahan said earlier this month. “That’s what we’re hoping for—he’ll be ready to play in Week 1, and usually, that doesn’t mean that’s the day he comes back. Usually, you got to come before that to make that goal, and that’s kind of the goal we’re hoping for, and don’t have any reason to think differently.”

While his coach is optimistic, Purdy is taking a one-day-at-a-time approach to his recovery, unwilling to set any potential return dates in stone.

“I feel good. Arm is feeling good,” Purdy said last week. “So to say I’m going to be ready by this time or this time, we’re not trying to label any kind of timeline like that. For sure, though. [Week 1 is] a goal, right? You want to be ready for the season, and if that’s the case, great. But like I said, we’re just taking it one day at a time and don’t want to say anything that we regret down the road or whatever.”

The 49ers are in their second week of organized team activities (OTAs), which run through June 8 and are followed by a three-day mandatory minicamp on June 13. After that, players will break for the summer before returning for training camp. Purdy will head back to the East Coast during that time.

“Yeah, we got to finish out everything through OTAs here,” Purdy said. “See how I feel, but I think the plan would be good back down to Jacksonville with my quarterback guys I trained with before the draft, Tom Gormely and Will Hewlett, as I start to throw more and I want to just make sure my mechanics and everything are right. So go down, work with them for a couple of weeks, and then get back here.”