Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images
SANTA CLARA – Lots of different situations, lots of pressure on the quarterbacks. That’s how Saturday went for the 49ers, although, because quarterbacks can’t actually be sacked, there were a lot of late completions instead of quarterbacks hitting the dirt.
The quarterback report
Following Friday’s marathon, 71-play, roughly two-hour practice, the 49ers scaled back a bit for a 45-play (including three kicking plays), hour-and-a-half practice. Here’s how that abbreviated schedule went for each of the team’s three quarterbacks (for those, if any of you wondering, Wilton Speight has yet to take a snap in these drills).
Jimmy Garoppolo: 21 snaps, 6-for-10 (6-for-12 if you include two passes he threw away following sure sacks), 2 TDs, 1 near-INT that was dropped, 5 would-be sacks
There was constant pressure on Garoppolo today, as the 5 sacks on 21 snaps would indicate (23.8 percent of plays). After a false start by Malik Henry on the first play of the day (a run play), Garoppolo was would-be sacked by Nick Bosa on the next play, but hit tight end Ross Dwelley for a touchdown for his first pass attempt of the day.
He was would-be sacked on the second play of his next set of reps by a combination of Arik Armstead and K’Waun Williams – who came flying off the edge – just tossing the ball away. Williams said after practice of the play: “It’s great, just to be able to come off the edge and just get a one-on-one and win, it always feels good.”
Garoppolo had completions (a short one) to George Kittle and Dante Pettis in that set, along with an incompletion to Trent Taylor. On his next set, he had one incompletion on his second-worst pass of the day, a throw behind Tevin Coleman.
Then, Bosa got into the backfield again for a sack on a miscommunication from Garoppolo and Coleman which would have left Garoppolo wide open for assault by a defensive lineman in a real game. The next play was another would-be sack by Solomon Thomas, and, just like the first would-be sack that Garoppolo played through, it finished with a touchdown to a tight end, this time to Kittle.
His penultimate pass was tossed aside on another would-be sack by a combination of Sheldon Day and Armstead, and his final pass should have been picked off by Jaquiski Tartt, who dropped it. Overall, Garoppolo was decent again, but will need to not be (would-be) sacked five times if he’s going to stay healthy and effective.
C.J. Beathard: 13 snaps, 6-for-7, 1 TD, 1 would-be sack
Beathard’s only incompletion today came from a screen pass that was tipped at the line of scrimmage. Otherwise, he connected on a more-than first down yardage connection to Pettis, completed a throw caught by a diving Raheem Mostert on his back shoulder, hit Pettis again for another big gain, hit Deebo Samuel for a touchdown on a perfect catch and throw over Chris Harris Jr., a short completion to Levine Toilolo, and a fantastic diving catch (on a would-be sack by Damontre Moore) by Richie James Jr. It was another good day for Beathard.
Nick Mullens: 8 snaps, 1-for-4, 1 (almost) would-be sack
Mullens, meanwhile, saw very little time on the field today. He was nearly sacked by Moore on his first incompletion, and his only completion went on a quick pass to Jalen Hurd, who displayed great strength and yards after catch potential. He had his third pass swatted at the line of scrimmage, and his final pass attempt, an incompletion to Ross Dwelley, came with pressure on him. He’ll want more time going forward than he saw today if he wants to beat out Beathard.
The defensive line pressure
This is not a definitive count, but the defensive line had six pretty sure sacks and one, maybe two, near sacks. Nick Bosa had two of those. Defensive coordinator Robert Saleh acknowledged his continued improvement, though said he “always” bites his tongue when it comes to praising rookies too much.
“He’s getting better,” Saleh said. “It’s great competition for him to be able to go against [T] Joe [Staley] and [T Mike] McGlinchey every day. At the same time, good for those guys, because he’s kind of unique in his pass rush set and then how he operates. It’s good for him. He’s got to continue to evolve and keep his foot on the pedal and keep rolling.”
Bosa, Arik Armstead, Solomon Thomas, Sheldon Day and Damontre Moore all had sacks (or would-be sacks) today, as did Williams. Ronald Blair III was constantly involved, and while the run game had much more success today, breaking open some big runs, it seemed to generally be a very short, stop-at-the-line-or-backfield run or that big explosive run. As a whole, the line just as dominant, and the offensive line, without Joe Staley (who had a vet day today) seriously struggled to cope with it on run plays that didn’t go through one of the B gaps.
Finally… the kicking unit
The moment everyone was waiting for finally came on Saturday afternoon. The sight of five-plus members of the 49ers’ staff trying to get the unwieldy, massive contraption of yellow-painted bars with less-than perfectly mobile wheels over to the back of the end zone signaled that, yes, the moment of reckoning was finally upon us; the kicking unit was coming out.
For the first time, Robbie Gould and Mitch Wishnowsky set up for a triplet of short kicks (two field goals, one extra point) from 27- and 33 yards out. The holds came down, and Gould knocked each of the three kicks through those uprights, presumably resting safely somewhere in the 49ers’ parking lot. It was, as you would expect, the clear highlight of the day.