Brock Purdy says it felt ‘like Christmas’ the night before 49ers training camp

After only four and a half months of injury rehab, quarterback Brock Purdy has returned to the practice field for the 49ers. And while everyone around The Bay is excited, none are more ecstatic than Purdy himself.

The San Francisco 49ers gunslinger was giddy after his first day of training camp this year, eager to pick up where he left off in January. The Arizona native compared his first day back in action to that of waiting for Christmas morning, unable to sleep much the night before as he prepares for the task ahead.

“I was excited,” Purdy told the media Thursday. “Obviously to end the year like we did last year, heartbreaking and everything, and then going through surgery, rehab, the offseason, missing OTAs. Just to be able to get out and say a play with my teammates and break the huddle like to me I was so excited just thinking about that. Like last night it was almost like Christmas, excited for the next day.”

While his return is one thing though, how he looks is a completely different story.

Many people speculated that Purdy would be cleared to practice in the middle of August, not the end of July. But thanks to the care of doctors and medical personnel, the QB was able to bounce back in record time. And that’s not to say they rushed the process of recovery at all, only that he is ahead of schedule because he stuck to the plan.

Big picture: It's remarkable that we're sitting here on July 27 discussing Brock Purdy deep overthrows and heaters to Brandon Aiyuk after he had surgery to repair a torn UCL in his elbow on March 10 (just 4.5 months ago)

— David Lombardi (@LombardiHimself) July 27, 2023

“Honestly, they gave me a plan. We all sat down and had a plan and we just stuck to it,” Purdy explained. “And it was just, get better every single day. And once we started throwing, here’s the set of throws we got. There’s an amount of volume, here’s the intensity and then just work your way up, see how you feel after every throwing session, and then just go from there.

“Like I said, never jumped ahead of schedule or did anything or try 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.”

That plan he spoke of is still very apparent on Day 2 of camp, finishing the afternoon, 3 for 10 on 11-on-11 drills. Purdy also threw an interception to safety Tashaun Gipson on his third throw of the period, before going deep to wide receivers Danny Gray and Deebo Samuel on two overthrown passes.

The point is: Brock Purdy still has some rust to shake off before he can be given the keys to the kingdom again. What’s important is that he’s still willing to take those risks that made him so successful in 2022.

“There’s just some rust I still gotta knock off. I didn’t get any reps in OTAs or anything like that. Just the pace of the game, seeing a defense dropping back, going through reads. So today, it was good just to get out there. You know, go through some reads and stuff, let it rip,” Purdy said.

Brock Purdy feels good, healthy and confident. #49ers pic.twitter.com/lsBxfJZBT1

— Tracy Sandler (@TracyFGSN) July 27, 2023

And while he may be seen as the starter in training camp, that doesn’t mean his spot is secured when Week 1 rolls around. When asked about starting, Brock Purdy was very blunt, telling the media that he has not discussed the future with coach Kyle Shanahan yet.

“No, we haven’t had any kind of conversation like that, it’s ‘how can I be great today,'” he said. “I practice, let’s get these reps, let’s get mental reps and let’s continue to grow. Obviously, what we put on tape last year was great and all, but there’s still a lot of areas where I have to grow and get better and stuff. That’s just where we’re at.”

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