The 49ers are thrilled with the progress Brock Purdy has made to this point in his recovery from offseason elbow surgery. However, the wider NFL world will not get an opportunity to judge his progress until it sees the San Francisco starter in a game situation.

Typically that would happen in at least one preseason game, but that may not be the case this year.

Purdy is unlikely to play in the preseason opener with the Raiders on Sunday, and it is unclear if he will feature at all in the exhibition schedule.

Asked on Thursday if he would like to play in preseason, Purdy said:

“I mean, I think eventually I’ll be able to get to that point. Yeah. I don’t think there’s a necessity to do it like this week or anything like that. I’m still getting my 11-on-11 reps at practice, getting my timing and everything down with the receivers and as a whole. So, eventually, hopefully we can get to a point where we can talk about that.”

Niners head coach Kyle Shanahan has long since made the point that practices are more valuable for evaluation purposes. As such, he may see little value in risking Purdy in a meaningless game, even if it just for a couple of series.

This week Purdy had the opportunity to reunite with former teammate Jimmy Garoppolo, whom the former seventh-round pick replaced last year when Garoppolo went down with a broken foot in Week 13, as the 49ers and Raiders met up for joint  practices.

Purdy credited Garoppolo with playing a key role in smoothing his transition to starter.

"Jimmy did a great job with going through progressions and just the timing and the operation and stuff. And so, I learned from him and when I was the one to go in, I was just trying to do what coach taught us and try to not be late to any reads or progressions or anything like that. He was professional at everything that he did. Coming into the meetings, how he was in the meeting room, in the huddle, before he was about to break a huddle and say a play, like everything was crisp. And so, I learned a lot from Jim and just how a professional NFL quarterback is supposed to look and act at practice and his leadership and talking to guys."

What Purdy learned from Garoppolo translated excellently to the field across his five regular-season starts and his play over the course of the postseason prior to his injury in the NFC Championship Game.

Should Purdy reproduce that level of play for a full season in 2023, Garoppolo could be considered to have played a part in helping the 49ers find a long-term solution at the game's most important position.

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