The burning question at the front of everyone’s mind has been answered. Brock Purdy is ready to go for the start of training camp.
If that comes as a surprise, you are not alone. Based on Kyle Shanahan’s reaction delivering the news, Purdy is, if not ahead of schedule, aggressively on time.
John Lynch told reporters Tuesday, the day before the 49ers’ first training camp practice, that Purdy has been fully cleared, “without restrictions.”
Given the uncertainty surrounding his timeline, that landed as something of a stunner.
Lynch and Kyle Shanahan quickly clarified that the 49ers aren’t going to proceed as if Purdy is entering after a normal offseason. He will have restrictions.
“He’ll take off day one, but we believe in that plan,” Lynch said. “There will be some time off due to pitch count and all that, sticking to the plan. But the great news is Brock has worked his tail off and he’s ready to go.”
Shanahan said because Purdy threw on Tuesday — a continuation of his offseason throwing program — he will not throw on the first day of camp on Wednesday.
San Francisco will have blocks of three practices in a row followed by a day off. Purdy will not practice three days in a row, Shanahan said, in addition to the pitch count. Once he hits a certain benchmark — which Shanahan said he expects to happen in a few weeks — Purdy will eventually be allowed to practice three days in a row.
Lynch’s proclamation that he was cleared without restriction is independent of the 49ers’ plan to get him back into action. So while he’s medically a full go, the reality is that he won’t be.
Restrictions aside, his availability and involvement from the outset of camp is massive. There was a legitimate question as to whether Purdy — whose initial surgery was delayed due to persisting elbow inflammation — would even be involved by late training camp. This puts him on a very clear path to start Week 1.
It also, of course, creates some headaches in terms of managing reps. Shanahan said he was planning that the 49ers would have “a couple weeks before Brock came back,” though he said he maintained a plan for the possibility that this scenario “could happen.”
That statement made it evident that Purdy’s early availability surprised Shanahan, too. He added that the impressive play of Brandon Allen — who backed up Joe Burrow in Cincinnati for the past two years — in OTAs makes the divvying of reps between Purdy, Allen, Trey Lance and Sam Darnold all the more tricky to manage.
While it makes Lance’s standing ever murkier, the bigger picture is that the 49ers have the man they believe to be their franchise quarterback available and healthy from the start of camp.