Brock Purdy has been clear to play but will he be the San Francisco 49ers’ starting quarterback?
Having been fully cleared to play, the 49ers quarterback is about to start training camp and even better he’s up for what seems to be a major “promotion.”
It appears that the San Franciso 49ers have the kind of headache that is enjoyable, which is to say they’ve now got two very talented young quarterbacks competing for the starting spot. Though it looks like the franchise has made a decision about who will start, this could well prove to be a very good thing for the team.
Brock Purdy cleared to play and given starting job
According to reports on Tuesday, Brock Purdy has been cleared to practice and will now enter the San Francisco 49ers training camp as the team’s starting quarterback. Speaking with the media, head coach Kyle Shanahan stated that Purdy is expected to start practicing on Thursday during drills with the team’s starting offense. “He’s cleared, without restriction,” Shanahan said.
This, of course, brings to an end what has been a long road to recovery for Purdy who had surgery back on March 10th to repair a torn UCL in his throwing elbow. You may recall that Purdy suffered the injury during San Francisco’s NFC championship game loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. The procedure which Purdy underwent, known as Tommy John surgery, was initially expected to sideline the 23-year-old for six months, something that understandably cast doubt on his status for the coming season. That he’s now returned more than a month before what was projected is a boost for both the player and the team. It’s worth noting that Shanahan indicated that Purdy won’t actually participate in the first practice session on Wednesday, but rather will be in the mix on Thursday given that he’s not thrown on three straight days since his operation. With that said, he’s expected to do so on Thursday without any restrictions.
Is Brock Purdy good to go?
As per reports, Purdy was cleared by independent elbow specialist Dr. Keith Meister. Interestingly, though Shanahan has seemingly green-lit Purdy to go forward with no problems, it’s understood that he will continue to rest his arm every third day. Additionally, he will also be limited in how much he can throw on the days that he does train.
A look at Brock Purdy
As you probably know Purdy was a major surprise last season. After being selected as the final pick in last year’s NFL Draft, he started the season as the team’s 3rd string quarterback behind veteran Jimmy Garoppolo and starter Trey Lance. Unfortunately for both, injuries derailed their seasons and it was up to Purdy to take the reins, which he did in Week 13. From that point on it was clear that a star had been born. In nine regular-season appearances, including five starts, Purdy completed 67% of his passes for 8.08 yards per attempt to go with 13 touchdowns and four interceptions. His average across his starts was an impressive 219.6 yards per game.
To be clear, the 49ers won each of the games that Purdy started and went on a 10-0 run which was good enough to clinch the NFC West and the No. 2 seed in the NFC playoffs. What came next was a playoff run that saw the Purdy and Co. take down the Seahawks and the Cowboys before heading to the NFC championship. Sadly, it was there that the dream ended as Purdy injured his elbow in the first half of the game which the Eagles eventually won 31-7 as they secured their trip to the Super Bowl.
So, the 49ers have fixed their quarterback problem?
As you can imagine, from the moment Purdy went down, there has been intense speculation about who would get the starting spot once the dust settled. With Garoppolo having joined the Las Vegas Raiders, the focus naturally turned to the No. 3 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, Trey Lance. The 23-year-old entered last season as San Francisco’s starter in his second NFL season, however, after just two starts he suffered an ankle fracture in Week 2 matchup with the Seahawks which ended his season. Incidentally, Shanahan addressed Lance’s situation as well on Tuesday. “He looks healthier,” Shanahan said. “I think his feet look better.” Ultimately, the Niners appear to be spoilt for choice at this point having also acquired some cover in the form of Sam Darnold in March. Whatever happens from here, what we can say is that the team is now covered at quarterback. As for the man in the middle, it appears the starting job is Brock Purdy’s to lose.