Shanahan explains how Brock Purdy could be ‘full-go’ by training camp

Feb 1, 2023 - 10:16 PM

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It wouldn’t be a 49ers offseason if there weren’t question marks at quarterback. Who knows whether Tom Brady was ever a feasible option, but he’s retired. Kyle Shanahan closed the door on a potential Jimmy Garoppolo return.

The 49ers still have the No. 3 overall pick from 2021 on their roster. Shanahan said Trey Lance is expected to be 100 percent for OTAs after saying he was content with Lance and Brock Purdy as the team’s quarterbacks moving forward:

“It sounds like he’ll be pretty close around phase one, phase two. OTAs is the third phase, which I think that is five weeks after phase one, so we’ll see in phase one, they’re saying right around that time, so hopefully we’ll be able to ease him in with drill work and things like that. And then by OTAs, he’ll be able to go.”

Generally. speaking OTAs begin around the last week of May and last through the end of the first week of June. That gives Lance another 3.5 months to fully heal.

Purdy’s timeline remains more muddy, as he’s yet to decide whether he’ll undergo a repair of the UCL or if he’ll need the dreaded Tommy John surgery.

Shanahan believes training camp will determine who starts at quarterback after adding, “I know we have two starters on our team right now that I believe we can win with, so when you have that situation, you’re not that eager to go looking around.”

Here’s Shanahan explaining the risk of entering a season with two quarterbacks coming off a significant injury:

“It always is, but when a quarterback gets his arm bent backwards and stuff, I think anybody gets hurt from that, it’s unfortunate when quarterbacks get hurt, but you try to have three, sometimes you bring four into camp, but I don’t think we’re going to start having five or anything like that.

Brock did a pretty good job being durable all year and they got his elbow in an unfortunate situation, which I think has happened a number of quarterbacks. Going back to, I don’t know exactly, but when you look at [former NFL QB Drew] Brees, I don’t know if that was shoulder or elbow that he [John Lynch] did on the last play of the year.

Yeah, there’s lots of situations like that and you look at the recovery timeline and the good thing—[Los Angeles Rams QB Matthew] Stafford, I don’t know if that was from an impact thing or if that just built up over time, but I know he went through some of that stuff last offseason and that affected him a little bit into this year, but the good thing about Brock is that wasn’t an issue. It was a freak accident that I think everyone saw what happened.

And when you talk to the doctors, it takes three months to really get back to repairing it and building it up the right way and in six months, he’ll be the same guy.”

Lynch echoed Shanahan’s sentiments, saying, “it seems to be consistent that the right approach is that one takes about that six months. They’re continuing to work through that process, but they seem encouraged by the prognosis.”

By the sounds of it, Purdy will be fully cleared in six months if he elects the surgery that’ll repair his UCL. If that’s the case, both Purdy and Lance will be full go come training cam