Purdy issues heartfelt thank you to doctors for rehab help

Purdy issues heartfelt thank you to doctors for rehab help originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Brock Purdy made his return to the football field sooner than almost anyone anticipated.

The 49ers quarterback stepped foot onto the gridiron with his teammates Thursday 139 days after undergoing elbow surgery to repair a torn UCL on his right throwing arm -- and it might not have been possible without the medical staff that helped him along the way.

The second-year signal-caller made sure to share his appreciation publicly.

"I just want to thank first of all Dr. Keith Meister, Keith Coker, [director of reconditioning] Ryan Donahue, [head of player health and performance] Ben Peterson, [head athletic trainer] Dustin Little, all the guys here, everyone that's been in the process," Purdy explained to reporters after Day 2 of training camp Thursday. "Tom Gormely, Will Hewlett in Florida. Thank you. All the guys, they all played a huge part. We all sat down and had a great plan.

"And so, shout out to all those guys and like I said, never jumped ahead of schedule or tried to do anything out of the ordinary. We had really great advice from all those professionals along the way and slowly got to where we're at and still have a plan to continue to carry out. It's not, 'Oh, we made it and we threw in practice. It's over.' We still have some stuff to do."

Purdy went into detail about his strict recovery plan that has guided the projected six-month timeline.

"Right after surgery, it was do the simple things," Purdy explained. "And then once I got my range of motion back, it was, 'Alright, we got a throwing program coming up, here's how we're going to ease into it and go from there.' "

The 23-year-old added that he took the rehab process day by day and slowly worked his way up. The first thing on his checklist was to do simple things while testing the range of motion in his elbow before he attended a throwing program in Jacksonville, Fla. last month.

Purdy continued to make steady progress, but he believes his time in northeast Florida made all the difference.

“I think when I left and went there it was more, ‘Hey, I’ve got to pick up the intensity,'" he said. "So, with these throws, we might not get a lot of throws like I did back here in San Francisco, but when I go there let's pick up the intensity, let's start ripping some stuff. And so that's really what we focused on. And there were days where man, it was like, yeah, my arm was fatigued, and I had to just continue to build up my strength when I was in Jacksonville.

"And so, when I left and came back here, I felt like I was in a great spot, being able to throw back-to-back days and all that kind of stuff. So that's really what we focused on was being able to throw back-to-back days, just like practice when we get into camp and into the season and stuff."

After an impressive start to his NFL career in 2022, Purdy is the presumed starter for the upcoming season. While his determination and patience helped, the medical staff along the ride certainly played a part in that being possible, too.

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