The San Francisco 49ers were left humbled by Tuesday’s joint practice with the Los Angeles Chargers. Brock Purdy ran into a buzzsaw on one field, while Justin Herbert ran roughshod on the other.
It was a different story when the teams met Thursday night at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif. in the first preseason action for either starting quarterback and the most extended run yet for a few 49ers first-stringers.
Both QBs played just one series, and their snap counts (Purdy: 12, Herbert: three) told the story just as much as the scoreboard (49ers 41, Chargers 17).
If there were three main characters:
1) Raheem Morris’ defense, which showed off a wider array of looks and was more disruptive than it was on Tuesday.
2) De’Zhaun Stribling, who has played himself into the starting lineup in Melbourne.
And 3) Jacob Cowing, who raced 83 yards through defenders and into the end zone for a punt return touchdown.
The punt-return gig is one of the few undecided jobs in camp, and the field was shaken up a bit when Deebo Samuel went back deep on the first two punts from JK Scott.
Samuel, making his preseason debut, caught one pass on two targets for four yards. He’s been listed as the top kick returner on the depth chart since he signed his contract. But he’s never returned a punt in his NFL career.
He still hasn’t. He signaled for a fair catch twice, letting the first boot go by him and cleanly fielding the second at the 12-yard line, despite having some room to run.
Cowing, who had been locked in a two-man competition with Jordan Watkins, didn’t let his opportunity pass him by. A fourth-round pick in 2024, the speedy receiver missed all of last season after injuring his hamstring in the preseason.
With one electric return, Cowing have just locked up a roster spot. The 49ers haven’t had a punt returner take one to the house since Ted Ginn Jr. all the way back in 2011.
The punt return team got in plenty of practice thanks to the defense’s redemption arc.
Sam Okuayinonu and Jaden Dugger teamed up to bring down Omarion Hampton in the backfield on the Chargers’ first play from scrimmage, and Los Angeles went on to its first of four three-and-outs of the first half.
Renardo Green made his first of two open-field tackles on second down, and Deommodore Lenoir broke up Herbert’s third-down pass intended for Ladd McConkey.
Third downs were no issue for the 49ers’ starting offense, at least as long as it included Stribling. The second-round rookie with sticky hands hauled in two first downs among his four catches for 46 yards on five targets before hitting the showers.
Through two preseason games, Stribling has hauled in 11 of 13 possible targets for 108 yards.
He has impressed at every turn in his first training camp and in his second preseason game checked off an important box: in-game rapport with the starting quarterback.
Purdy completed four of six passes for 29 yards — 3-for-3 for 25 yards when targeting Stribling.
Trey Lance didn’t leave the 49ers second guessing themselves for moving on from the former No. 3 overall pick. He took over for Herbert after the opening series and went 10-of-16 for 73 yards. He also helped the 49ers defense avoid a couple lowlights, overshooting a deep ball to an open receiver and missing a blown coverage that left his running back open in the flat.
The other open competition to camp is at left guard. Rookie Carver Willis started there alongside the first-string offensive line, with Connor Colby at right guard. Austen Pleasants got a look there too before leaving with a knee injury.
Shanahan said afterward that Pleasants’ knee injury wasn’t an ACL. Fellow guard Robert Jones was ruled out of next week’s preseason finale with an undisclosed injury. And the 49ers lost two players to hamstrings: Green and linebacker Nick Martin.
Left tackle Trent Williams, linebacker Fred Warner and receiver Mike Evans were among the healthy 49ers who did not suit up.
