SANTA CLARA — If you love to overreact to training camp practices, then you'd love Thursday's session from the 49ers.
Brock Purdy returned to the practice fields and assumed his role as undisputed QB1, about four-and-a half-months removed from surgery on his right elbow. But during one of his first dropbacks during an 11-on-11 portion of practice Thursday, Purdy got Pick 6'd by 49ers safety Tashaun Gipson in the left flat. By unofficial counts, Purdy went 3-of-10 passing during team drills.
Sound the alarms! Purdy is cooked!
Clearly, I'm kidding. It's July 27. Considering that Purdy returned about a month earlier than initial forecasts, the fact he was even out there Thursday is a win for the organization.
"Still have a plan to continue to carry out," Purdy said. "It's not like I threw in practice, I made it, it's over. We still have some stuff to do."
Purdy said he has no limitations on the types of throws or arm angles he uses while delivering the ball, but that he's still building up strength. For now, he's throwing heavy one day, lighter the second day and resting the third day. The 49ers hope he can go without rest days in a couple weeks once building up strength.
The 23-year-old underwent surgery to repair his UCL on March 10 after injuring it in the NFC Championship. He has been on a throwing program in recent weeks but said Thursday was his first time facing a defense since his rehab started.
"I feel like I'm good enough to play in 11-on-11 football," Purdy said. "We talked about that when I got back here with (coach Kyle) Shanahan. Basically I told him that I feel good enough and confident enough, that I got into any 11-on-11 situation I can make every throw. That's the conversation we had. They gave me the green light to go out there and go."
Football is a results-based business, but we can save that for Week 1. In the midst of his comeback, Purdy is happy with the process, saying his arm strength feels the same as it did pre-injury.
"There's some rust I still gotta knock off," Purdy said. "I didn't get any reps in OTAs (offseason team activities or anything like that, with 11-on-11 or 7-on-7. Just the pace of the game, seeing a defense, dropping back, going through reads. Today was good just to go out there, go through reads and let it rip. Obviously, I just had the interception. I'm just gonna go to the film room and learn from it and get on the same page with B.A. (Brandon Aiyuk)."
Purdy likened Thursday to waking up on Christmas Day and said he was happy to let the ball fly, even if he did overthrow Deebo Samuel and Jauan Jennings deep down the field. Perhaps his best completion of the day came on a high pass to Aiyuk on a deep in route, as the wide receiver hauled it in over cornerback Mooney Ward for a 20-yard gain.
For what it's worth, no quarterback particularly shined on Thursday, as the defense has looked better than the offense in the first two days of camp. What was peculiar about the quarterback action was the division of reps.
It was no surprise to see Purdy getting all the QB1 snaps, but Trey Lance and Sam Darnold split second-team reps, while Brandon Allen stayed locked in with the third team. In other words, reps for Lance and Darnold were compromised for Allen, who is getting a long look from the coaching staff to open camp.
Purdy said he's received no guarantee about getting the starting nod for the season opener Sept. 10 in Pittsburgh, but it sure looks that way. He's earned it after leading the 49ers to eight straight wins and the NFC title game last year.
"We haven't had any conversation about that," Purdy said. "It's, 'How can I be great today?' … 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. That's where we're at. Not trying to get too far ahead of ourselves."
