INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Brock Purdy was still in the visitors’ locker room, wearing his toe socks and taking in the scene after the 49ers’ 41-17 preseason win over the Chargers, when the conversation turned to SoFi Stadium and what might be waiting there later this year.
“Yeah, even Kyle said, ‘We’ll be back here in December,” Purdy said, referring to the Dec. 17 rematch with the Chargers. Then he caught himself and added the bigger possibility: “Oh yeah, that, too.
My bad. I’m just so locked in.”
That was the tone of the night for San Francisco, which bounced back from last week’s loss to Tennessee with a game that produced plenty to notice. Jacob Cowing may have put himself in front in the punt-return race, the backup quarterback picture kept shifting, and Eddy Piñeiro came through cleanly in the kicking game.
Cowing’s biggest moment came just before halftime, when he took an 83-yard punt return to the end zone and may have grabbed the 49ers’ return job in the process. Kyle Shanahan didn’t sound ready to shut down the competition, but he liked what he saw.
“Not yet, but I like that he’s making it easier,” Shanahan said.
The return itself had plenty of help. KhaDarel Hodge, Josiah Deguara, Jalen Stroman and Sincere McCormick were among the players escorting Cowing, while Tatum Bethune and Brayden Willis delivered key blocks. Once Cowing got past JK Scott at midfield, the rest was open field.
“As soon as I got the ball in my hands, I made a beeline for the left sideline, used as much gas as I’ve got, trusted my guys with the blocks and tried to get in the end zone,” Cowing said. “I felt like I was in a dream just hearing the crowd go crazy and seeing my teammates running to me and seeing how happy they were.
I was like, ‘Ain’t no way this is happening right now.’ It was a special moment for me with everything I battled last year and to come back healthy.”
There was a little setup before the touchdown. Deebo Samuel handled the 49ers’ first two punt returns, and his first try didn’t go well because he lost the ball in the translucent roof as it drifted from the 35 to the 13.
Samuel then sprinted from the sideline to celebrate Cowing’s score, and that led to a penalty. He later made a fair catch at the 31.
Cowing, meanwhile, said Samuel’s advice was simple: “I said just try to catch it and make something happen, bro,” Cowing said. “In that stadium, especially how high the punter kicks it, you can lose it sometimes.”
The 49ers have been hunting for stability in that role, with Skyy Moore gone in free agency to Green Bay and others - Jordan Watkins, Will Pauling and Jack Jones - also getting looks. Cowing had been the leading candidate after serving as the 49ers’ 2024 returner before missing last season with four tears to his right hamstring. The franchise’s punt-return drought is a long one: no regular-season or playoff punt return touchdown since the 2011 opener, and Victor Bolden was the last to do it in the preseason, back in 2017.
The game also gave the 49ers another look at De’Zhaun Stribling, who followed up his professional debut against Tennessee by drawing the ball early and often again. He caught 7 of 8 targets for 63 yards against the Titans, and Thursday night Purdy completed all three of his throws his way. Mac Jones also went right to him on his first pass, and it turned into a 21-yard gain.
The one miss was costly. Stribling dropped a pass at the 5-yard line that would have been a 33-yard touchdown from Jones, and Purdy couldn’t help but joke afterward.
“Honestly a lot of us were like, dang, we thought he’d score that touchdown and go to the Niners’ hall of fame,” Purdy quipped. “It’s all good.
He’s going to bounce back. He’s a baller.
That play doesn’t define him. He has a bright year and career ahead of him.”
Jones had an uneven night in his longest action since a Nov. 9 home loss to the Rams. After coming in for Purdy after one series, he started well with completions to Stribling for 21 yards and Luke Farrell for 13.
But the Stribling drop kicked off a stretch of five straight incompletions. Jones ended up 6 of 13 for 89 yards, while Adrian Martinez took over after halftime.
Martinez later threw a third-quarter pick-six to Junior Colson after Nadame Tucker got in unblocked past Austin Pleasants and hurried the pass toward Cowing. Martinez answered with a 9-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter and then hit Jordan Watkins for a 17-yard score that pushed the lead to 41-9.
Kurtis Rourke did not play after fracturing ribs in last Thursday’s start.
Up front, the left guard competition kept churning. Austen Pleasants started at left tackle for Trent Williams, then slid inside to left guard, but a right knee injury sent him off gingerly with 5:47 left in the third quarter.
Rob Jones, who started there in last week’s preseason opener, was already out with a calf injury, leaving Carver Willis to start at the spot Thursday night. Connor Colby opened at right guard in place of Dominick Puni, who is in concussion protocol, and Willis returned to left guard after Pleasants exited.
Piñeiro also gave the 49ers a clean night. He hit field goals from 48 and 45 yards and converted both extra points.
His kickoffs stood out too: the first four reached the goal line, the end zone for a touchback, the 4-yard line and the 1-yard line as he continued working on adding leg strength this offseason. Corliss Waitman handled kickoffs in the fourth quarter, and Nick Martin forced a fumble on the Chargers’ return that Hodge recovered.
The game started at 7 p.m. PT, just like next Thursday’s preseason finale at Las Vegas.
That’s a long way from the 49ers’ regular-season opener against the Rams in Melbourne, Australia, which kicks off Sept. 11 at 10:35 a.m. AEST, or Sept. 10 at 5:35 p.m.
PT.
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