Safety and Hall of Famer John Lynch, general manager of the San Francisco 49ers, is well-versed in the kind of stingers quarterback Brock Purdy has had in back-to-back games.
“I had gone 11 years in Tampa . . . and they became regular to the point where I had to have neck surgery,” Lynch said about his experience with stingers during an appearance on sports radio station KNBR, per Jerry McDonald of The Mercury News. “I know exactly what he’s dealing with. You’ve kind of got to break the cycle of getting ‘em on a weekly basis and it’s just in the last couple of weeks. His have been minor and they’re not fun. Hopefully, we can move past that. I think he responded really well to this one and hopefully we’re in a good place. We can protect him and get him kind of away from that and not make that something he’s dealing with anymore.”
As a nerve injury, a stinger is defined by Merriam-Webster as “a painful burning sensation that radiates from the neck down the arm and is often accompanied by weakness or numbness of the affected area.” According to Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle, Purdy had never had stingers before, but on December 17, during the Week 15 victory over the Arizona Cardinals, the 24-year-old experienced a problem.
Purdy experienced another stinger in his shoulder toward the end of Monday’s Baltimore Ravens game.
Prior to this Sunday’s game against the Washington Commanders, Lynch stated he is not yet concerned about Purdy’s long-term health.
“Believe me, we would never put Brock in a position where we don’t think it’s smart for him to be out there and obviously there’s a bunch of highly-qualified docs that are evaluating,” Lynch said of Purdy’s situation. “Brock’s in a good place and we’re confident he can go out there and perform and be healthy out there.”
The 49ers still lead the NFC in aggregate rankings, one spot ahead of the Detroit Lions and Philadelphia Eagles, but they still need to improve if they want to be the first seed in the postseason. Following his terrible performance against Baltimore on Christmas Eve, Purdy was ranked as fifth among the betting favorites at +1200 odds to win the Most Valuable Player Award as of Friday afternoon by the DraftKings Sportsbook.
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