SANTA CLARA — Brock Purdy walked around the 49ers practice field in gym shorts with a towel draped over his neck Wednesday, as the team held its first session of training camp. By Thursday, he’ll likely assume his duties as QB1, but on Day 1 he watched Trey Lance and Sam Darnold split reps with the first unit.
Quarterback talk has become the standard for the 49ers this time of year. Just ask tight end George Kittle.
“I’ve had quarterback controversies since, uhh, I think my whole career,” Kittle said smiling, counting his fingers.
Truth be told, this doesn’t seem like much of a controversy in 2023: We should assume Purdy is the guy until proven otherwise.
For the first couple weeks of camp, the plan is for Purdy to sit out one day, practice two days, sit out one day, practice two days, etc. Judging from the comments from coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch on Tuesday, the starting job is Purdy’s to lose as he returns with a surgically-repaired shoulder.
In essence, we got to see Lance and Darnold open up their QB2 competition Wednesday. Neither guy was particularly sharp – and often resorted to check down passes – but it’s hard to glean much information from a single practice.
The guys in the huddle like what they see from Lance, who had a full offseason to prepare for his third year in the league. Though he entered last year’s camp as the No. 1 option, Lance is giving a different vibe to his teammates.
“What I’ve seen since last season, throughout OTAs (offseason team activities), today – he has a confidence to him,” Kittle said. “He doesn’t second guess himself. It doesn’t look like he’s thinking about the play at all. The play’s called, he knows what it is and he steps in the huddle with confidence. If you can do those things, it gives you an opportunity to go be great and you’re not thinking about anything else.”
Much has been made about Lance’s offseason work to speed up his throwing motion, but it’s another aspect of his passes that Deebo Samuel noticed.
“The way the ball's coming out,” Deebo said. “He used to throw the ball kinda hard, a lot. He kinda got a great touch to his ball now. He’s more comfortable, he’s more relaxed back there. He looks a little bit more poised.”
Lance and Darnold took turns taking the first set of snaps for each drill. During an 11-on-11 snap, Darnold went down awkwardly after it appeared a defensive player and offensive lineman may have rolled up on his left ankle, but Darnold didn’t miss a rep.
Lance routinely was missing his target high. During an 11-on-11 portion of practice, Lance didn’t place a back shoulder throw to Brandon Aiyuk low enough, but the wide receiver made an impressive leaping catch over Deommodore Lenoir and was talking trash afterwards. Lance also turned a broken third-down play into a first down by scrambling out of the pocket and rolling down the right sideline.
“He steps up there, threw some good balls today, threw them well,” Kittle said. “I loved on third down, the pocket broke down and he escapes, gets a first down with his legs. That’s what we want him to do, we want him to use his athleticism to make plays. That’s what he’s doing.”
For what it’s worth, Lance made more plays Wednesday than Darnold, who is still getting comfortable with Shanahan’s complex and unique playbook.
Virtually every player on offense took part in the team portion of practice – excluding tackle Trent Willams, and running back Christian McCaffrey. The first-team offensive line included left tackle Jaylon Moore (filling in for Williams), left guard Aaron Banks, center Jake Brendel, right guard Spencer Burford and right tackle Colton McKivitz, who has a lot of responsibility now that Mike McGlinchey is gone via free agency.
