The moment players put pads on, the intensity of training camp ratchets up immensely. It’s miles closer to real football than unpadded practices. That pent-up energy can overflow at times, and usually does. On Monday, it manifested in the first fight of camp, along with some excellent quarterbacking showings.
Lance, Darnold impress
While there was much ado made about the reps given to Brandon Allen, those all but dried up on Monday. The rest of the quarterbacks, aside from a couple sketchy moments from Brock Purdy, looked excellent.
(As a note, reps and numbers will differ with reporters. Some count every throw, even if there’s a sack or a play-killing penalty. I mention throws that happen on plays that end from a sack or penalty, but do not count them in the numbers. Only completed plays count).
Brock Purdy
Purdy took 28 reps and was 11-of-14 with a touchdown and an interception.
The set of reps for Purdy before situational drills had a few worrisome moments, though he was mostly good. He had an incomplete pass that might have been a fumble in the “tuck rule” era, when he tried to stop a throw at the last second.
He completed his next four passes over the next couple series, highlighted by a 70-yard touchdown pass that hit Christian McCaffrey in stride. It was stunning to see someone beat Fred Warner that badly for a massive play, but if anyone is capable of that, it’s McCaffrey.
On his last rep before situational drills, Purdy, under pressure from Arik Armstead, threw a woefully ill-advised ball in the direction of George Kittle. Kittle was well covered and Dre Greenlaw undercut the route for a leaping interception.
In situational drills, things settled down a bit, with Purdy finishing the day on a 7-for-7 run. He had one incompletion on a deep ball to Brandon Aiyuk, but Talanoa Hufanga arrived too early, delivering a significant hit to Aiyuk. He was flagged for pass interference, negating the play.
He was otherwise on target, though there were a handful of times when Purdy absolutely would have taken a shot or been sacked, including an unabated blitz from Tashaun Gipson Sr., and his final play (more on that below).
Trey Lance
This was probably Lance’s best day of camp. He took 17 reps and was 8-of-9 on the day. There was one messy play that appeared to be a likely sack, which Lance dumped off, that is not counted in the completions.
His only incompletion was on a miscommunication to Jordan Mason. Mason ran a go route when Lance was expecting him to come back to the ball.
The most striking thing about Lance’s performance was the way he stayed in the pocket. Maybe that’s irrational confidence, knowing that he’s not going to get hit, but it didn’t seem that way. He remained patient and poised amidst pressure and often stepped up, delivering over the trenches in a way no other quarterback on the roster can.
He had dart of a throw to Danny Gray in the first set of reps and was stellar in the move-the-ball period.
Lance opened that portion by standing tall and stepping up to find Ray-Ray McCloud over the middle. Then he threw the best ball of camp on Monday to Chris Conley. It was an inch-perfect dart that just beat the tight coverage from D’Shawn Jamison. After what was deemed a sack from Kerry Hyder Jr., Lance found Tay Martin on a well-timed hitch to get the 49ers near the sticks. It set up a 55-yard field goal that Jake Moody knocked home.
The thing for Lance is that he needs to prove he can connect on out routes, balls to the flat and rollouts regularly. He has looked very shaky in those areas where Darnold has not. To beat him out, he needs to look confident and clinical there. We’ll see how he progresses in that area.
Sam Darnold
Darnold took 18 reps and was 6-of-8.
He looked in control and confident. His early incompletion before situational drills came off an excellent deep ball breakup by Qwuantrezz Knight covering Deebo Samuel. His other incompletion came from Martin failing to look for the ball on a hitch, much like Lance’s incompletion to Mason.
Other than that, Darnold impressed. He consistently hit on quick outs and hitches, and found McCloud for a nice, leaping grab over the middle. He also made a Tyler Rogers-esque sidearm throw after what would have been a sack (and is not counted in the completions). Darnold also took off assertively after an offsides call and looked quick. He and Lance are in a proper competition for the backup job.
Brandon Allen
Allen took just six reps on Monday and went 1-of-2. He was swatted at the line at least once, and possibly twice by Darryl Johnson at the line of scrimmage. He had an incompletion negated by defensive pass interference from Knight on Willie Snead IV and completed his lone pass to Jack Colletto on a bootleg to his right.
The fight
Tempers flare in camp, but they got hot a little quicker than anyone was expecting on Monday. Normally, there’s a little bit of a build up to fights, some jawing back and forth and a little extra contact.
There didn’t seem to be much of a preamble in this case. After Elijah Mitchell — who took too many hits and ended up on the ground far too often on Monday — was clocked by Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles, a huge pair of scrums broke out for well over a minute. Jauan Jennings was involved, and it appeared Brandon Aiyuk and Dre Greenlaw were, too.
Most of the view of the fight was impeded, but it lingered and required the horn to be blown. Kyle Shanahan brought both sides over for a huddle for a few minutes and gave what we have to assume was a stern talking to. After that, practice resumed.
Jennings, though, stayed hot. He and Hufanga shoved back and forth after one play, and right when Jennings looked like he was about to swing, Hufanga pulled back to avoid another disaster.
There was another incident when Jennings and Tashaun Gipson Sr. got into each other after a play. Hufanga came over to try and cool things down, which only incited Jennings further. He slapped at Hufanga, requiring George Kittle to come over and get Hufanga out of the situation. Other than that, things remained mostly cool.
Stay off the quarterback
Kyle Shanahan must have been sick to his stomach on Purdy’s final rep of the day. It was a fourth down in a move-the-ball drill and Purdy dropped back in the pocket.
As he went to deliver, the ball dropped to the ground. Clelin Ferrell was rushing hard and stripped it. It looked like he got all ball, avoiding Purdy’s arm, but it looked eerily similar to the situation in the NFC Championship when Purdy tore his UCL.
That was the extent of Purdy in Monday’s practice, and Shanahan could be seen stewing — and rightfully so — for another few minutes after that. It was far too close a shave for the first day of pads, and Ferrell was almost certainly scolded.
Other notes
- It was promising day for Ronnie Bell. He had three catches, all close range, but showed strong hands and fluid movement skills on each.
- Darryl Johnson made up for a horrible time in 1-on-1s with some active hands at the line of scrimmage. He had the funniest rep of the day when he came out out yelling in a rush against Matt Pryor. Pryor shrugged him off and tossed him to the ground, leaving offensive linemen to laugh. Johnson, to his credit, got up, dusted himself off and gave Pryor credit.
- No field goals were missed on Monday. Jake Moody knocked home a 55-yarder and Zane Gonzalez knocked in a 57-yarder off the left upright in move-the-ball drills. Both also hit from 38 and 48 yards earlier in the day.