With both young quarterbacks not healthy enough to play at the present moment, the San Francisco 49ers’ QB situation remains murky.
On Tuesday, general manager John Lynch said that Brock Purdy is expected to have surgery next week on his throwing elbow. If all goes according to plan, that would mean a six-month recovery time, which would put him available at some point in early September at the earliest.
Initially, Purdy was supposed to be ready for training camp, but the postponement of his surgery due to swelling has thrown that possibility out.
“The bad news is that it was already a long wait before the first surgery date which was February 22,” 49ers beat writer Matt Barrows said on KNBR on Wednesday. “Now we’re talking two weeks after that. Every time it’s pushed back, you’re pushing back his recovery date as well. I remember when Kyle and John were talking on Feb. 1, they seemed pretty certain that Brock would be back for the start of training camp. Now John Lynch is more ambiguous with the timeline.”
So what does that mean for the beginning of the season? Trey Lance missed most of last year with an ankle injury, but he’s expected to be a full go for training camp. That means he is likely to be the starter for most if not all of the preseason. If that’s the case, it’s hard to imagine that he’s not also going to be the starter for Week 1.
“In my mind, he might not be back for any training camp,” Barrows continued. “It seems like we’re talking about early September, and that’s the best-case scenario. In which case it’s very hard to see Brock Purdy being the starter, being ready to kind of start for this team that early. I’m not saying he doesn’t do that at all this season, but in my mind it’s looking more and more like Trey Lance is the starter. Not only throughout the spring and summer, but probably going into that Week 1 game as well.”
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