The 49ers turned Thursday night into a reset button.
A week after managing only 13 points in their preseason opener against Tennessee, San Francisco rolled past the Chargers 41-17 at SoFi Stadium and got a much cleaner look at several key battles. Some starters got work, a few newcomers flashed, and the team walked away with far more good tape than it had seven days earlier.
Brock Purdy and Mac Jones both got their first preseason snaps of the year, and the 49ers made sure rookie receiver De’Zhaun Stribling was part of the plan right away. Purdy played one series, finishing 4-of-6 for 29 yards and adding a 3-yard scramble over 12 snaps. Three of those completions went to Stribling, and the drive ended in a punt after 39 yards.
Jones had one of the better throws of the early portion of the game when he looked for Stribling deep near the end zone, but the rookie couldn’t hang on and the ball bounced off his hands. The series ended with Eddy Pineiro drilling a 48-yard field goal. In his preseason debut, Jones went 6-of-13 for 89 yards.
Adrian Martinez added another layer to the quarterback picture, going 8-of-17 with a passing touchdown, rushing touchdown and two interceptions.
Stribling kept building his case anyway. He caught four of five targets for 46 yards and made three of those grabs on third down.
Across roughly two preseason quarters combined, he’s now hauled in 11 of 13 passes for 109 yards. He only played the first two series, which says plenty about how the staff is viewing him.
The ground game was just as active, and rookie third-round pick Kaelon Black made a strong first impression in game action after returning to joint practice against the Chargers on Tuesday. Black carried eight times for 33 yards and showed the kind of burst and one-cut decisiveness that drew Kyle Shanahan’s attention in April.
On a 9-yard run in the first quarter, he looked bottled up behind the line before slipping through a small crease and turning it into a positive gain. He also handled pass protection well.
With Jordan James still out because of a rib injury, Black looks like the leading candidate to back up Christian McCaffrey. He also seems to bring more juice than Brian Robinson Jr., last year’s No. 2.
San Francisco finished with 146 rushing yards on 36 carries, and three different players found the end zone on the ground: Sincere McCormick, Khalil Herbert and Martinez. McCormick and Herbert are both on the outside of the roster bubble, but they could still stick around as practice-squad depth.
Jacob Cowing finally gave the 49ers something to think about in the return game.
The third-year receiver is fighting for a roster spot, so it wasn’t a great sign when Deebo Samuel handled the first two punts. Cowing has been the most reliable punt returner in practice when healthy, but injuries have made his path tougher, including a severe hamstring injury that wiped out all of last season and a hip issue that has also slowed him.
Then he got his chance after Samuel came off the field. On his second return, Cowing took a 52-yard punt from JK Scott and raced 83 yards down the left sideline for a touchdown, flashing the 4.38 speed that made him a fourth-round pick in the 2024 draft. Scott had a chance to make the tackle and didn’t.
Cowing has not appeared in a game since his rookie season, when he caught just four passes, and becoming a dependable punt returner would help his case in a big way.
The left guard picture also got a little more crowded, though not any clearer.
Austen Pleasants started at left tackle in place of Trent Williams, then shifted inside to left guard and stayed there through the first half and into the second before leaving with an apparent leg injury and being ruled out. Rookie fourth-round pick Carver Willis was working at left guard early, and Connor Colby later got time there in the fourth quarter after starting at right guard in place of Dominick Puni, who has been out with a concussion.
It’s all in flux. Willis could be the favorite, since he opened the game and was expected to play only a couple series. The 49ers are back on the practice field Saturday, when Pleasants’ injury should be clearer and the first-team offense will offer another look at the competition.
The defense, meanwhile, answered back after reports from Tuesday’s joint practice said the Chargers had gotten the better of San Francisco.
That didn’t carry over to the game. Los Angeles finished with just 229 total yards and didn’t score an offensive touchdown until 1:03 left in the fourth quarter.
The Chargers’ other points came on Junior Colson’s pick six early in the third quarter off Martinez. San Francisco controlled the rest of the game, finishing ahead in first downs 20-8, total plays 72-54 and rushing yards 146-68.
Former 49ers quarterback Trey Lance led the Chargers in pass attempts, going 10-of-16 for 73 yards. He also ran twice for 42 yards, and he looked faster than he ever did during his time in San Francisco.
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But the age on that group also changes the conversation in a hurry. With so many of San Franciscos best players already on the other side of 30, the urgency is obvious, because championship windows do not stay open forever and the 49ers know the margin for error is shrinking. The talent is still there, but the pressure to turn it into a title feels more immediate now than it did even a year ago. [Read more 🡒]