49ers quarterback Brock Purdy is 35 days post-surgery after undergoing a repair on the torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. He has done his rehab in Gilbert, Arizona, with Keith Kocher, who is the Los Angeles Angels minor league physical therapist and thus experienced in rehabbing athletes from the surgery.
Purdy said he is taking it day by day.
“It’s a process for sure,” Purdy said. “It doesn’t matter what you hurt. If you have surgery on something, you’ve just got to let it have time to heal initially and then go from there. For me, it’s slowly getting better -- a little bit every single day. Everything is going as planned. We’re on the same page just in terms of the Niners, [Dr. Keith] Meister and my physical therapist out here. Everyone’s on the same page, and everything’s going as planned. Very thankful for that. Just staying one day at a time from here.”
Purdy made the interview rounds Friday as part of his partnership with Buffalo Wild Wings, promoting the franchise’s “One and $1 Deal” that pairs wings with a not-to-be-slept-on burger.
He heads back to Santa Clara this weekend to get ready for the 49ers’ offseason program next week. Purdy obviously won’t do on-field work, but he will continue his rehab and participate in the meeting room.
Purdy wouldn’t discuss a specific timeline for his return to football activities, but his injury did not require reconstruction, which would have kept him out into the season. During surgery, Meister, the Texas Rangers team physician, repaired the injury with an internal brace, which involves screws and sutures to stabilize the ligament.
That will allow Purdy to start throwing in three months with a slow, three-month build up.
“Yeah, I think it was great news,” Purdy said. “Obviously, you look at the recovery time of that one versus the reconstruction. But it’s all God’s plan, and I trust that everything happens for a reason. So for it to be the repair with the internal brace was great news, and now we’re just taking it one day at a time.”
Purdy, who, after his success last season, is “the leader in the clubhouse” to start for the 49ers in 2023, has sought advice from baseball pitchers who have undergone the surgery as well as former 49ers quarterback Nick Mullens.
Mullens injured his UCL late in the 2020 season and underwent a successful procedure and rehab that cleared him for football activities after five months.
“Obviously I’ve got a lot of information,” Purdy said. “Keith Kocher . . . has done this rehab many times. Just picking his brain on it, seeing other guys that are going through the recovery process out here with baseball, talking to them. I talked to Nick Mullens as well. He went through this a couple of years ago. He had the same surgery. He had some great advice as well. It’s definitely something that I’ve talked about with some other guys and have gotten some great advice from.”
Purdy played as a rookie only because of injuries to Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo.
Purdy finished his rookie regular season completing 67.1 percent of his passes for 1,374 yards, 13 touchdowns and four interceptions in seven games. He completed 65.1 percent of his passes for 569 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions in three playoff games, injuring his elbow early in the NFC Championship Game loss to the Eagles.
