The future of Brock Purdy’s elbow, and the surgery that will repair it, is not as certain as it sounded earlier this week.
Purdy is slated to get internal brace surgery to repair his torn ulnar collateral ligament on February 22 with Dr. Keith Meister, the team physician for the Texas Rangers. But according to Purdy, that could change.
The 23-year-old quarterback joined Papa & Lund on Thursday in Arizona and mentioned that while the expectation is for a repair with an internal brace, there is a possibility for his surgery to be altered.
“There could be some question as to getting a hybrid surgery, which is reconstruction with the internal brace,” Purdy said. “So, we’re going into it thinking the repair with the internal brace for sure, but all the surgeons have said that and that’s what we’re hoping to get a six month recovery in and be ready for camp.”
A hybrid surgery would include part of the components of Tommy John surgery in combination with an internal brace.
Per Dr. Timothy Gibson, an orthopedic surgeon in Orange County, via the San Francisco Chronicle’s Eric Branch, the timeline for that recovery could be nine to 12 months.
The current timeline is a roughly six-month recovery, with Purdy expected to be able to throw roughly three months after the surgery.
Purdy said the decision on whether to switch to a hybrid surgery is up to Meister, who he said does around 200 per year.
“Yeah, that’s Dr. Meister’s call,” Purdy said. “He’s done this year after year with the best of the best with MLB pitchers. So he’s definitely seen this kind of thing happen, and he’s going to make the best call, and not just for the heck of it. It’s obviously for the best call for my career moving forward. And he knows what’s best, and he’s going to make the best decision for us, so it’ll be good.”
This isn’t exactly reassuring news, but Purdy indicated the expectation, based on opinions from multiple doctors, is for an internal brace only.
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