The San Francisco 49ers endured a rough joint practice against the Los Angeles Chargers on Tuesday. Rookie receiver Brenen Thompson made sure everyone knew it.
“It was a lot of fun,” Thompson said afterward. “We tore them up.”
Asked how many touchdowns the Chargers scored, Thompson added another jab.
“I lost count, honestly.”
Thompson may have lost track of the total, but he accounted for two of the scores.
The rookie caught a pair of touchdowns covering more than 50 yards, first beating Deommodore Lenoir and Ji’Ayir Brown for a deep pass from Justin Herbert before connecting with backup DJ Uiagalelei for another long score.
Beyond that, Herbert repeatedly attacked San Francisco’s secondary, connecting with receivers downfield and exploiting breakdowns across the middle. Quentin Johnston made a one-handed catch along the sideline while Lenoir interfered with him, and Ladd McConkey repeatedly escaped coverage for touchdowns.
David Njoku also scored from about 60 yards after the 49ers apparently lost track of him during a coverage bust.
The problems extended beyond the secondary. Omarion Hampton ran over Brown on one carry and powered through rookie linebacker Jaden Dugger on another.
San Francisco’s pass rush provided one encouraging counterpoint. Osa Odighizuwa generated four charted pressures, and several Chargers completions might not have survived game conditions because defenders cannot hit quarterbacks during joint practices.
The 49ers’ offense fared little better. San Francisco failed to reach the end zone during the closing two-minute period, completing a difficult day on both sides of the ball.
“Honestly, I don’t think it was our best day,” quarterback Brock Purdy told the San Francisco Chronicle. “Feel like fundamentals and stuff were just a little off and whatnot. … Just feel like we could have came out with a little bit more chip on our shoulder offensively.”
Coach Kyle Shanahan shared Purdy’s disappointment.
“I thought we struggled a little bit in the move-the-ball periods,” Shanahan said. “Didn’t score in the two-minute [drill]. So there were some ups and downs, but I didn’t really like how we finished today.”
San Francisco will have an opportunity to respond when the teams meet in Thursday night’s preseason game.
