NEWSLETTER
During Sunday’s NFC Championship game between Philadelphia and San Francisco, 49ers QB Brock Purdy was forced out of the game early due to an injury. And as it turns out, that injury was SIGNIFICANT.
Purdy suffered a complete tear of the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in his throwing elbow and will reportedly need offseason surgery. Yikes.
Purdy left Sunday’s 31-7 loss after Haasan Reddick of the Eagles hit his arm while attempting to throw a pass. The 49ers QB did try throwing on the sideline, but ultimately told coach Kyle Shanahan it was a no-go. Later, Purdy had to return to the game when 4th-string quarterback Josh Johnson suffered a concussion. Kind of crazy they had him in there at all, in retrospect.
When Purdy did return to the game, however, he threw only two more passes, both of which were very short. Up until Sunday, Purdy was undefeated since taking over as the 49ers’ starting quarterback (which occurred back in Week 13, after then-starter Jimmy Garoppolo suffered a broken foot).
According to Pelissero’s report, there’s hope that Purdy can avoid a full reconstruction of the ligament via Tommy John Surgery. If that is the case, and Purdy needs just a repair (as opposed to a full reconstruction), it would be possible for him to be ready for training camp next season.
While Purdy made one of the more unexpectedly exciting runs in recent NFL memory, the 49ers still go into this offseason with questions at the quarterback position.
