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72 Hours After Surprising His Surgeon, 49ers QB Brock Purdy Reveals Raiders’ Jimmy Garoppolo’s Unearthed Secret

Published 09/18/2023, 9:03 PM EDT

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San Francisco 49ers‘ Brock Purdy became the darling of the NFL last season. Despite being the last pick of NFL 2022 Draft, the QB found his way in as a team starter after consecutive injuries in the position and immediately took things over. Now, after coming back from an injury himself and two games into the season, he is slowly finding back his old form. This turnaround has captured some attentions.

Following the victory over LA Rams, the 49ers’ captain reflected on his own performance. There’s only one person in the world that wouldn’t call it a great display, and that is Brock Purdy. He also talked about something that he tried to learn from his former teammate Jimmy Garoppolo. But most importantly, Purdy had surprised his own surgeon after only week one’s performance.

Self-critical Brock Purdy once looked for Garoppolo’s recipe

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Although not extraordinary, by no means it was a poor display from Purdy as he amassed a total of 206 passing yards, 93.1 passer rating and 17 out of 25 pass completions. Purdy had three instances of mispassing, which he has taken notes of. Talking to the press conference after the game, Purdy acknowledged the missed opportunities. He took the incomplete passes on himself, “Those are on me. I gotta be better, I gotta hit them in stride and not overthrow them. Simple.”

Purdy also had his moments of Adrenaline rush though. In the second quarter he pulled out a quarterback sneak following a foul on the 10-yard line, reminding fans about his former teammate Jimmy Garoppolo. Garoppolo, who played for the 49ers from 2017 to 2022, has pretty much mastered the craft. Reasonably delighted with the move, fans have been wondering if Garoppolo had slipped a few notes out to Purdy during their time together.

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Well, that does not happen to be the case at all. Jimmy never disclosed the trick to him, according to Purdy. He wasn’t even aware that Jimmy reportedly knew a ‘secret’ about the move but didn’t want to tell anyone. When asked about it by NBC Sports Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco, Purdy simply answered “we always tried to figure it out.”

“I don’t think there’s necessarily a secret to it or anything, at least as far as I know. But we watched a lot of the QB sneaks and stuff that Jimmy did well and what he did. So, he did a good job with it. And I learned a couple of things, but he never really told me.”

“Kid’s special”: Brock Purdy’s surgeon shocked with his recovery

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In the span of one year, ‘Mr. Irrelevant’ has gone from being an unwanted rookie to one of the best quarterbacks in the NFC conference. In his first post-surgery game against the Steelers, Purdy registered 220 passing yards, 111.3 passer rating and 19 out of 29 pass completions after missing the entire offseason. Coming off an injury and registering that in the season opener is just wild. And the stats haven’t gone unnoticed by the man who turned out to be a career-saver for Purdy.

Orthopedic surgeon dr. Keith Meister had performed the surgery on Purdy’s right elbow back in March 2023. Reported by news outlet San Francisco Chronicle, Mr. Meister described his first reaction to the stats as “It was like, Wow, this kid’s special.” On 10 September, exactly six months from the surgery, Meister also revealed the details of the torn UCL surgery and his uncertainty over Purdy’s recovery period, suspecting it to be as long as 12 months. Scariest of all, Meister termed the injury as “acutely traumatic event” that could have derail Prudy’s promising career too early.

But Purdy has turned all the odds in favor him after back-to-back solid displays. The season is moving ahead and Prudy is slowly settling down. It is scary to think what damage he would be causing to the opponents in a few weeks. The San Francisco 49ers next face the New York Giants on 22 September. The 49ers need a win to maintain their lead at NFC West, and they would look no further.

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What do you think Jets’ biggest strategy would be to neutralize Purdy? Let us know in the comments below.

Watch this story: Dave Portnoy’s Preseason Predictions Take a Hit as New England Patriots’ Subpar Performance Prompts Him to Question Their Status

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Written by:

Sagnik Ghosh

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Sagnik Ghosh is an NFL writer at EssentiallySports. He is interested in covering off-court drama. With experience in writing sports blogs, Sagnik looks to keep his readers engaged with his coverage.
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Edited by:

Sameen Nawathe