The San Francisco 49ers and the Los Angeles Chargers hosted a joint practice this week ahead of Thursday’s preseason game, and a ton of reports praised the latter for their performance on the day.
Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert had a day, as the Los Angeles offense regularly seemed to make plays. On the flip side, San Francisco’s offense had its ups and downs against the Chargers defense, although there were some bright spots such as rookie Kaelon Black’s return to practice.
Following the day,
Chargers rookie Brenen Thompson chimed in on who he thought won the battle between the two sides.
“It was a lot of fun. We tore them up,” the rookie said, while adding that he “lost count” of the number of touchdowns the Chargers offense scored.
Thompson was a key part of the action, as clips showed he beat Deommodore Lenoir and Ji’Ayir Brown for a deep touchdown on a play, while later having another deep score as well.
Quarterback Brock Purdy felt the 49ers had a mixed day as well, feeling the fire wasn’t there enough from the team.
“Honestly, I don’t think it was our best day,” Purdy acknowledged. “I feel like fundamentals and stuff were just a little off and whatnot. Obviously there was some good stuff, some stuff we need to work on, but I just feel like we could have come out with a little bit more chip on our shoulder, offensively. I don’t know how our defense did, but yeah, that’s just my overall thoughts.”
A part of the struggles for the 49ers have been due to injuries, as the team has been hit hard on both sides of the ball. San Francisco’s receiver core has especially seen its issues, as Ricky Pearsall (knee, out for season), Mike Evans (quad), Christian Kirk (calf), and De’Zhaun Stribling (hamstring) have all missed parts of camp.
“Yeah, that’s sort of part of it,” Purdy said when asked if the receiver injuries have led to part of the struggle. “I feel like I’ve dealt with that before. Obviously you want to have the same guys out in the field and whatnot, getting your chemistry down, but I think we’ve done a good job though of the next guy being up and ready and going in and it’s not too big for them.
“So, that’s how I feel about it. I love all of our receivers and stuff. I know we’ve had some grinders and some practices the last couple of days and stuff. I don’t know if that had any effect or whatever on them today, but it was one day at practice, and they’re going to bounce back. We’re all going to be good.”
The 49ers will take on the Chargers on Thursday evening for their second preseason outing, and Kyle Shanahan expects some starters to play, including potentially Brock Purdy. So, we’ll get an early look at how the top unit is performing ahead of the season.
