SURGERY LIKELY FOR QB
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy tore a ligament in his throwing elbow, putting his status for the start of next season in question.
A person familiar with the injury confirmed the diagnosis of the injury Purdy sustained in the NFC title game. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the team has not released details on the injury.
NFL Network first reported that Purdy tore the ulnar collateral ligament in his right arm and said he will seek a second opinion on whether he needs a repair or a reconstruction.
A repair of the elbow typically would lead to Purdy being sidelined for six months, which would mean he could return close to the start of training camp. A reconstruction would likely sidelined Purdy into the 2023 season.
The latest quarterback injury for San Francisco throws another wrench into their future plans at the position. Their Week 1 starter from this season, Trey Lance, went down with a season-ending ankle injury in Week 2 that required followup surgery last month.
Jimmy Garoppolo replaced Lance, but broke his foot in Week 13 and is eligible to be a free agent in March.
Purdy took over and won his first seven starts as a rookie before getting hurt on the first drive of the NFC championship game loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday.
“My arm felt like it stretched out,” Purdy said after the game. “It felt like a lot of shocks all over from my elbow, down to my wrist. Front and back. Just pain all over.”
Purdy came back into the game in the second half after backup Josh Johnson left with a concussion and mostly was only able to hand the ball off. He attempted two passes with the injured elbow with neither going more than 1 yard beyond the line of scrimmage.
“I couldn’t throw anything over 5-10 yards,” he said. “That is why we just had some screens. That was our only option when I went back in.”
Chiefs are hurting, too
The Chiefs advanced to Super Bowl LVII after Sunday’s win over the Bengals in the AFC championship game.
But the victory produced a laundry list of multiple injured players: cornerback
L’Jarius Sneed (concussion), wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster (knee), linebacker Willie Gay Jr. (shoulder), wide receiver
Kadarius Toney (ankle) and wide receiver Mecole Hardman (pelvis).
The Chiefs have a week in Kansas City before they travel to Arizona for another week of preparation before squaring off against the Eagles. So, the injured players have time to rehabilitate before Super Bowl Sunday on Feb. 12.
Of the group, arguably the biggest concern is Sneed, who must clear the five-step concussion protocol before he can return to action.
The Chiefs are taking a wait-and-see approach with their starting cornerback.
“We’ll see how he does here (Monday),” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said in a Zoom teleconference. “We’ll see where he’s at. I don’t want to make predictions either way.”
Sneed suffered the concussion in the first quarter of Sunday’s game after appearing to hit his helmet on the knee of a Bengals player.
The best-case scenario involves Sneed, who finished the regular season with the second-most tackles (108) and tied for the lead in interceptions (3) on the Chiefs’ defense, being available for Super Bowl LVII. And this is especially important when knowing Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown is up next.
Bengals still contenders
Joe Burrow and the Bengals didn’t have another fantastic finish left in them.
That had been the specialty of a talented team with a generational quarterback who could find creative ways to win games.
The Bengals were supremely confident after winning 10 in a row heading into the AFC title game against the Chiefs, a team they had beaten three times in the past 13 months, including in the AFC title game last year.
But too many mistakes doomed the Bengals in Sunday night’s loss.
“In football — it’s either winning or misery,” center Ted Karras said. “We’re on the misery end tonight.”
Cincinnati’s patchwork offensive line had trouble protecting Burrow, who was sacked five times. The defense couldn’t do enough to contain Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes, even though he was playing on a sprained right ankle.
Most of Cincinnati’s key players will be back.
The Bengals already have begun restructuring their finances so they can offer Burrow a rich, multi-year contract extension to keep him in Cincinnati.
Burrow said this season that the Bengals’ championship window would last his “whole career.”
Like Burrow, Tee Higgins just finished the third year of a four-year rookie deal and is eligible for an extension. Ja’Marr Chase will be in the same position after next season.
“I’d love to play with Joe for a while,” Higgins said.