One of the most inspiring and compelling NFL storylines last season ended in heartbreaking fashion when San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy left the NFC Championship Game against the Philadelphia Eagles with what looked like a nasty injury.

The injury was a complete tear of Purdy's ulnar collateral ligament in his throwing arm, rendering him unable to throw the ball more than 10 yards. The 49ers went on to lose against the Eagles, who advanced to the Super Bowl. Meanwhile, the initial fear was Purdy would need Tommy John surgery: a complex procedure commonly seen in baseball players, which entails a grueling rehab.

With that in mind, it was clear that Purdy was going to miss at least several weeks of the upcoming NFL season. However, in an interview Purdy gave this week, he stated that he's "not sure" if he'll play at all this season.

Purdy underwent surgery on March 10th, so it's still been barely a month since he's been under the gun. The best news of all is the fact that Purdy's rehab process has been going exactly as planned, he revealed to CBS Sports:

It's going well. Just taking it one day at a time. Just trying to heal up and feel a little bit better every single day, and it's all gone as planned. Obviously we're in great communication with the doctors that I'm working with, the Niners, the organization as a whole, everyone's on the same page and we're excited for how it's going. So just taking it one day at a time.

San Francisco 49ers v Las Vegas Raiders
Photo Credit: Jeff Bottari, Getty Images
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Purdy is now rocking a large brace, which looks like a bionic arm. According to Yahoo, Purdy is currently rehabbing without it, and he's optimistic about his recovery, despite it being a long road ahead.

The 49ers are entering the 2023 offseason on shaky ground from a quarterback perspective. Purdy started last season as the third-string option, behind starter Trey Lance and veteran backup Jimmy Garoppolo. Lance went down with a season-ending ankle injury, prompting the return of Garoppolo. Weeks later, Garoppolo broke his foot, which led to Purdy's Cinderella story of going from the last pick in the 2022 NFL Draft to starting quarterback for the Super Bowl-caliber 49ers.

Purdy played so well last year that, if healthy, it's reason to believe he'd be the starter despite Lance being the third overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. Not to mention, the 49ers gave up multiple valuable picks for the right to draft Lance that year. But with Purdy out indefinitely, Garoppolo now a member of the Las Vegas Raiders, and the only other quarterback on the roster being Sam Darnold (on his third NFL team), it looks like Lance will enter the 2023 season as QB1.

This is certainly a situation to monitor, as each time Purdy took the field for the 49ers, he made some kind of magic happen. Here's hoping the recovery continues to go as planned, and the former Iowa State quarterback sees the field this year and gets back to throwing darts.

Read Purdy's full interview with CBS Sports here.

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