The San Francisco 49ers beat the Dallas Cowboy, 17-9, to win their first preseason game. They sat over 30 players, 19 of them healthy, and they had 18 penalties for 216 yards. But still, they won.
Fangirl Takeaways below.
Trent Taylor
During the first half of the game, the San Francisco 49ers confirmed that wide receiver Trent Taylor had surgery to repair a Jones fracture in his foot on Friday.
“We’re lucky we caught it when it was just a stress fracture,” said head coach Kyle Shanahan. “Usually when you go with that for a little bit, it ends up breaking and being a lot worse. He was complaining about a little pain, so we got the X-Rays, saw a little fracture in there. Then you have to make the decision, whether you want to go with it and risk it until it breaks? We decided to do it now, so it could be more of a 4-6 week injury instead of an 8-10 week injury.”
The 49ers hope is that he’ll be ready for Week One against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Thanks everyone for reaching out! Just missing a couple of games but I’ll be back soon and better than ever I promise you that!! 💪
— Trent Taylor (@Trent5Taylor) August 11, 2019
It’s a blow to the wide receiver who was having a really strong training camp, after being plagued with a back injury in 2018.
A Whole Lotta Injuries
By the end of the first quarter, three players had been hurt. Tackle Shon Coleman injured his lower right leg. He has an MRI scheduled tomorrow and left the locker room on a scooter with a cast. It is believed that he is out for the season.
RB Raheem Mostert left with a concussion, DL D.J. Jones left with a knee injury, S Marcell Harris left with a stinger, and OL Najee Toran left with a hand injury. C.J. Beathard hurt his thumb on his last play, but he says it’s fine.
The Rookies Have It
Jalen Hurd and Deebo Samuel
Despite the news of Taylor’s injury, the 49ers did have two bright spots at wide receiver in rookies Jalen Hurd and Deebo Samuel.
Hurd, who will most likely see a fair amount of time in the slot in Taylor’s absence, had three catches for 31 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
“I can do different things, so we’ll see what they do with me,” Hurd said. “I love the opportunity, so I’m just trying to seize the opportunity and make a play.”
Samuel had two catches for 61 yards, while also drawing a 25-yard pass interference penalty. Oh, and he had a 14-yard run.
“The game is not too big for Deebo,” said Shanahan. “He’s very competitive. He’s a good wide receiver, but he’s one of the more physical guys out there.”
Dre Greenlaw
Dre Greenlaw took his strong camp performance and continued it for his first NFL game. He had six solo tackles and one for a loss. He’s a quick, physical player with good instincts.
“He always seems to be around the ball in the run game and the pass game,” said Shanahan. “From what I saw, he made a few plays out there and I’m sure I’ll see a little more when I watch the tape, but seemed pretty encouraging how he played tonight.”
Mitch Wishnowsky
The 49ers rookie punter did not disappoint in his debut. His average punt was 49.5 yards, with his longest being 64. Shanahan was mainly happy with what he saw.
“… I thought we punted very well. I know that one kick, he hooked it left a little bit too far and got out of bounds. You don’t want to see that. Hopefully we can get him to hem up his sleeves a little bit. He looked awkward in a jersey. I’ll talk to [49ers equipment manager] Jay Bird [Brunetti] about that. But, obviously, room to improve but I like having him out there.”
The Battle for QB2
Nick Mullens got the start tonight and played the first half. He finished the evening 11-of-17 for 105 yards for 105 yards, one TD, and one interception. C.J. Beathard took over in the third quarter, playing most of the second half. His stats were 13-of-17 for 141 yards, a TD, and an interception.
“I thought both of them made some good plays, but I thought both of them, each one of them, had one really bad play,” Shanahan said. “I thought they threw a pick that was pretty easy to see. I think (with)_Nick, the backside linebacker got it in zone, and I think it was C.J., a robber safety came down and got them. After that I thought both of them played pretty well, while under a lot of duress too.”
Shanahan said that the plan is for Jimmy Garoppolo to start game two against the Denver Broncos, but Beathard will go in ahead of Mullens.
The two quarterbacks are friends off-the-field, which could be awkward but isn’t.
“Me and C.J. are great friends, we have a great relationship and we both understand the business,” said Mullens. “We’re just doing what we’re told. Nick, it’s your turn to play, C.J., it’s your turn to play. That’s what we do. We battle, we support each other, and it’s been great so far.”
The 49ers next preseason game is Monday, August 19 against the Denver Broncos at Mile High Stadium.