The 49ers’ preseason opener in Santa Clara got rolling Thursday night with the usual August mix: a handful of starters in street clothes, a lot of reserves getting real reps, and a few young players trying to make their mark early.
With Brock Purdy and Mac Jones both out, Kurtis Rourke got the start under center for San Francisco, while Adrian Martinez was also in the quarterback mix for the 49ers. That was the setup from the jump, and it made sense for Jones not to be pushed into action in a preseason game.
Rourke’s first series gave San Francisco a clean enough look. He opened with a quick throw to De'Zhaun Stribling for five yards, and the pair stayed active throughout the quarter.
By the end of the first, Rourke had gone seven-of-eight for 39 yards, while Stribling had four catches for 16 yards on five targets. The 49ers moved the ball, but penalties helped stall out the ends of their first two offensive drives.
One of the better individual moments came from Stribling, whose ability to win contested catches has already shown up in camp. He flashed that again on a second-quarter reception, fighting through Titans cornerback Cordale Flott to make a strong grab away from his body and move the chains. Plays like that make it easy to see why QB Brock Purdy already trusts him.
Rourke also showed some mobility on a fourth-and-5 from the 50, slipping what looked like a sack and escaping the pocket for a first down. It was his second rushing first down of the drive, a positive sign for a quarterback who missed all of last season with a knee injury.
On the other side, Tennessee’s starting offense came out sharp. The Titans opened with an 11-play, 95-yard touchdown drive, capped by Tony Pollard’s five-yard scoring run. San Francisco’s defense on that series was mostly made up of reserves, but there were still a few encouraging snaps from rookies Gracen Halton, Jaden Dugger and Ephesians Prysock.
Prysock had one of the cleaner defensive plays of the opening stretch when he was matched up against Titans wide receiver Carnell Tate on first-and-goal from the 5. Tate worked to the front pylon, but Prysock stayed right in phase and got a hand in to break up the throw.
The 49ers did take a hit early when cornerback Jack Jones was announced questionable to return with a hand injury after just one drive.
By the end of the first quarter, Tennessee led 7-0 after San Francisco’s defense forced a punt against the Titans’ starting offense. For a preseason opener, that’s the kind of opening frame teams are usually after: a little polish from the offense, a few useful reps for the young defenders, and plenty of tape to sort through afterward.
The game kicked off Thursday, August 13, at 6:00 pm PT at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif.
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