168megagacor.com: 49ers Brock Purdy eyes surgery next week Garoppolo tenure done

Brock Purdy’s once-delayed elbow surgery could happen early next week, if all looks OK during a follow-up exam in Arizona this week, 49ers general manager John Lynch said Tuesday.

Whether Purdy’s recovery timeline still aligns with a six-month target before the regular season, Lynch would only go so far as to say, “We’ll see where it goes.”

Lynch, speaking at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis, acknowledged that the extent of the operation remains uncertain. The hope is that the ulnar collateral ligament in Purdy’s right elbow, torn Jan. 29 in the NFC Championship Game, can be repaired with an internal brace rather than a full reconstruction of the UCL, more commonly known as Tommy John surgery.

One requires a six-month recovery. The other would sideline Purdy into 2024.

Purdy, 22, was scheduled for surgery Feb. 22, but Dr. Keith Meister delayed it after an examination showed the elbow was still swollen.

“Ultimately he’s 22 years old, we want the best outcome and Dr. Mesister made a really tough decision,” Lynch said in his press conference, which was streamed on the 49ers’ Twitter account. “We’re very appreciative. He’s done thousands of these surgeries. When you have all the swelling and stiffness out, that’s when he’s had the best success with the outcomes.”

Purdy, who grew up in Queen Creek, Arizona, is in that area and will meet this week with  Meister, who is part of the Texas Rangers’ medical staff and plans to be in Arizona attending spring training.

“He called me when he made that decision (to delay surgery),” Lynch said of Meister. “That’s a tough decision to make but I really appreciate the courage and the conviction to make it. It’s all about the best outcome. Is it ideal? No, for a variety of reasons – time being No. 1. You want every waking minute that you have.”

Drafted with the 262nd and final pick last year, Purdy won eight straight games when thrust into the lineup in place of an injured Jimmy Garoppolo. Purdy and Trey Lance, the 49ers’ top draft in 2021, are the only quarterbacks under contract, as Garoppolo is slated to hit free agency in two weeks.

GAROPPOLO IS GOING, GOING … 

Coach Kyle Shanahan, who’s not attending the scouting combine, bluntly said on Feb. 1 he could not envision a scenario in which Garoppolo returns for a seventh season with the franchise.

Lynch said Tuesday that Garoppolo’s time with the team has “probably run its course. We leave with nothing but fond memories for Jimmy, and Jimmy is going to go play good football for someone…  A lot of people want to talk about what we didn’t accomplish with him. What I know is we won a lot of football games with Jimmy. I admire his toughness, admire the teammate that he was.”

Shanahan said Feb. 1 the 49ers did not plan to pursue a high-level quarterback as a potential fill-in. But with Purdy’s status unclear and Lance only two months removed from follow-up surgery on his right ankle, the 49ers need quarterback depth.

“We may have to look into the quarterback market in addition to Brock and Trey to insulate ourselves from what might happen,” Lynch said.

UNRETIRE TOM BRADY? 

Could the 49ers’ quarterback search include looking at Tom Brady, a San Mateo native who’s 27 days into retirement?

Lynch said he texted Brady a congratulatory message on a record-setting career.

“He was a teammate for about three weeks at one point,” said Lynch, referring to his 2008 stint in Patriots’ training camp.  “So I sent him a text, just ‘Congratulations on one of the greatest careers that I’ve ever seen in any sport.’

“I wished him the best, so we’ll leave it at that.”

LANCE’S RECOVERY

Lynch is encouraged by what he’s seeing in Lance’s rehabilitation a month into the offseason.

“He’s doing really well. I feel I tell you this all the time but from my office on the second floor, I have a nice view of the field. I get reports, obviously, but my eyes tell me a lot,” Lynch said. “I’m watching Trey out there, taking drops every day and I don’t see a limp.

“That’s not to say he’s 100 percent. He’s really recovering well and doing a nice job. He did start throwing recently. Trey’s rehabbing extremely well.”

Lance, who broke his right ankle in the Sept. 18 home opener, required a follow-up surgery Dec. 30 to remove stabilizing hardware that was irritating his tendons, a procedure that Lynch claimed was not a setback, per see. “They took care of it and he seems to be doing really well,” Lynch added.

Lance was drafted No. 3 overall in 2021 out of North Dakota State. Finger, knee and ankle injuries have limited him to eight games, four starts. He has thrown 102 passes for 56 completions (54.9%); five touchdowns, two interceptions) and run 54 times for 235 yards and one touchdown.

“His biggest thing, we’ve just got to find a way – and I’ve had a lot of conversations with Trey (how) early in my career I struggled to stay healthy, and I had an eight-year stretch I didn’t miss a snap – so sometimes you just have to go through the rough patches and he’s got to play,” Lynch added. “That’s the biggest challenge.

“We’ve got a team that’s ready to go now. He’s got to go out there and play. Brock got that opportunity this year, he grabbed it, he did great things. We’ll see at some point how we get Trey that opportunity because we very much believe in who he is as a person and as a quarterback.”

COACHING NOTES

The 49ers have yet to officially announce changes to Shanahan’s coaching staff, but Lynch did confirm that Steve Wilks is their defensive coordinator in place of DeMeco Ryans, now the Houston Texans’ coach.

“It starts up front. It’s just something we believe in,” Lynch said of the 49ers’ defensive philosophy. “It’s been good to us, we want to continue on that and improve on that. We believe Steve can do that. He was the best guy for the job. It’s tough to rebound from losing a guy like DeMeco, just as it was with (Robert) Saleh (the New York Jets’ coach). But we’re hopeful we can even improve it.”

EXTRA POINTS

— Lynch later confirmed that Brian Griese is returning for his second season as quarterbacks coach, according to The Athletic’s Matt Barrows.

— Lynch also noted that the 49ers want safety Tashaun Gipson, a pending free agent, to return and that Gipson is not contemplating retirement.

— Long snapper Taybor Pepper’s three-year extension was officially announced by the team, three days after he broke the news with a humorous social media video.

— Wide receiver Jauan Jennings was tendered a one-year contract as the 49ers’ only exclusive-rights free agent.