Brock Purdy hurt his surgically repaired throwing elbow late in a loss to the Detroit Lions on Monday night, adding to the list of injuries this season for the San Francisco 49ers.
The injury occurred in the final two minutes of the 49ers’ 40-34 loss, when Brian Branch sacked Purdy on a blitz. As Purdy fell, his right elbow collided with the face mask of defensive lineman Pat O’Connor. Purdy said his elbow initially felt “on fire,” and he will need an MRI to assess the injury’s severity.
“It doesn’t feel the best,” he said. “But it doesn’t feel that bad, so we’ll see tomorrow.”
Purdy said early tests showed no damage to the ulnar collateral ligament he injured in a 2022 NFC Championship loss at Philadelphia. He hopes to play in the season finale on Sunday. Purdy had surgery on the ligament that offseason and worked through extensive rehabilitation to return for the 2023 season.
“I talked to the doctors — he just got hit in the right spot,” coach Kyle Shanahan said. “Hit the nerves. He couldn’t feel much.”
Joshua Dobbs replaced Purdy and led a touchdown drive to finish the game, which ended with the Niners (6-10) assured of last place in the NFC West after reaching the Super Bowl last season.
Purdy’s injury is just the latest in a season full of setbacks for the 49ers, with key players like Christian McCaffrey, Trent Williams, Brandon Aiyuk, Nick Bosa, and Dre Greenlaw all missing multiple games. The situation was so difficult that Purdy played behind an offensive line with third and fourth stringers at both left guard and left tackle.
Purdy played well early on, delivering a nearly perfect first half with two touchdown passes and a rushing touchdown on the first three drives, posting a perfect passer rating of 158.3.
“We were in a groove,” he said. “At that point of the game, we were just being aggressive and trying to win the game however it took. The pass game was going really well.”
However, after throwing another touchdown on San Francisco’s first drive of the second half, Purdy struggled, throwing two interceptions to Kerby Joseph, which ended the 49ers’ chances of winning.
This season has been challenging for Purdy, who hasn’t been able to replicate the success of last year when he led the NFL with a 113 passer rating and 9.6 yards per attempt, finishing fourth in MVP voting.
His performance has dropped this year, with 20 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. Despite the injury and the 49ers being out of playoff contention, Purdy is determined to play in Sunday’s game against Arizona.
“I want to finish the season with our guys,” he said. “For me, it’s why wouldn’t I play for my team and try to get some momentum going for the next year with our guys and make a statement to everybody here and that’s going to be here next year that I’m a competitor? I’m going to be out on the field any chance I get.”
