Quarterback Brock Purdy is in line to begin the season as San Francisco’s starter if he’s healthy.
But there’s still some question as to whether or not Purdy will be cleared to participate in training camp after the signal-caller underwent surgery offseason surgery to repair his right elbow.
Speaking to fans at the Dwight Clark Legacy Series event, Shanahan expressed optimism that Purdy should be OK by late summer.
“As long as Brock’s elbow heals right, he’ll be the exact same guy,” Shanahan said, via 49ersWebZone.com. “And when you have a clean break like that or tear, it will be. You can have a setback, and you can have something heal wrong, but everything’s been completely on pace.
“And just watching him now, he’s doing the same drills all the other quarterbacks are doing. He’s just using a towel to throw, but still doing violent motion, still moving it. He’s just not doing with the football. He’ll get closer to that, and as long as there’s not a setback, we think he’ll be there in training camp.”
Purdy is slated to begin throwing again early in June. He had his elbow surgery on March 10, which would put his full recovery date somewhere in late August or early September.
Shanahan also said that Purdy “played at an extremely high level. … I think our team got a lot better when he got in there.”
Purdy completed 67.1 percent of his passes as a rookie for 1,374 yards with 13 touchdowns and four interceptions. The 49ers were 5-0 in his starts and defeated the Seahawks and Cowboys in the postseason before the club fell to the Eagles in the NFC Championship Game after Purdy suffered his elbow injury.