Brock Purdy goes deep; Observations from day 15 of 49ers training camp

Here is what stood out from the San Francisco 49ers 15^th day of training camp.

Brock Purdy

Purdy threw two interceptions on Wednesday. He has now thrown at least one interception in six of the last seven practices. His lack of mistakes was a big part of the 49ers success when he stepped onto the field late last season and took over the starting quarterback job.

There is still roughly a month to go before the start of the regular season, but he needs to get this turned around. Turnovers have been one of the biggest predictors of success or failure for the 49ers over the last four seasons.

Purdy’s day opened with a defender getting their hands on the ball. Throwing a deep over route to Jauan Jennings, Purdy’s pass was broken up by safety Talanoa Hufanga.

After a completion on a screen to Kyle Juszczyk, Purdy again put the ball in harm’s way. Trying to hit Brandon Aiyuk on a slant to the left side, Purdy didn’t see linebacker Curtis Robinson. The throw hit the linebacker in the hands, but he couldn’t hang on.

Things picked up for Purdy following the near miss as the quarterback hit on five of his next six passes.

After hitting Danny Gray over the middle for a gain of 17, Purdy ripped a deep throw which travelled 45 yards before Brandon Aiyuk hauled it in while running down the left sideline. Aiyuk had got behind Ambry Thomas on the play and Purdy’s throw arrived before Hufanga could get over to make a play on the ball.

This throw is the latest example that Purdy has the same velocity he did on his throws as a year ago. In fact, Purdy and Aiyuk connected on a nearly identical play during training camp last year.

Following the deep throw, Purdy went to work looking downfield again on his next snap. With everything covered he checked down to Ty Davis-Price in the left flat for a gain of nine. Following a screen which was broken up by the 49ers defensive line, Purdy stepped into the pocket and ripped a throw over the middle to Ross Dwelley for a gain of ten. He wrapped up the first portion of practice with another checkdown, this one to Juszczyk.

Following the special teams period, the focus turned to third and one situations.

Purdy picked up one first down when he took a naked bootleg around the left side and kept it himself.  The quarterback made his first big mistake of the day on the next play.

Rolling out to his left after a play fake, Purdy had Brandon Aiyuk open for the first down. However, he couldn’t get the ball up and over linebacker Curtis Robinson resulting in an interception. Purdy got lucky when Kyle Juszczyk stuck with the play and knocked the ball out of Robinson’s hand and the quarterback fell on the fumble.

From there the focus moved to the redzone.

Purdy opened the session up with a short completion to Kyle Juszczyk for a gain of three. Two plays later, facing third and five from the ten, Purdy found Brandon Aiyuk for the touchdown.

On the next possession, Purdy threw high to Deebo Samuel for an incompletion. Samuel was well covered along the backline of the endzone, but Purdy tried to give the receiver a chance to make a play. Purdy did the same thing on the next play when he lofted a pass to Brandon Aiyuk in the back of the endzone. Deommodore Lenoir was all over Aiyuk and got a hand on the ball, tipping it to Tashaun Gipson for Purdy’s second interception of the practice.

Purdy bounced back from the turnover on the next play when he connected with Deebo Samuel for his second touchdown. This was a beautiful throw from Purdy, getting to Samuel just in time for the receiver to get both feet down inbounds.

The starting offense wrapped up their day with a move the ball series.

On first down, Purdy tried to thread a pass to Deebo Samuel on a deep curl to the left side, but Ambry Thomas was there to break it up. This was another example of Purdy trusting his receiver and trying to make a play happen.

Following a pickup of eight on a screen to Jordan Mason the 49ers were left with third and two.  Purdy made sure they converted, hitting Jauan Jennings with a short throw to the left side for a gain of six.

Facing third and one three plays later, Purdy rolled to his right off play action and hit Brandon Aiyuk for 14 yards while on the move to put the offense in scoring position.

Purdy finished the day 12-17 with two touchdowns to go along with the two interceptions.

Trey Lance

Lance got the first turn with the second offense on Wednesday. He started hot, hitting his first three passes before cooling of and connection on just one of his last four.

The third-year quarterback opened his work with a completion to Willie Snead while on the move to his right for a gain of 12. He then hit Jauan Jennings on a slant to the left for ten before finding Willie Snead for a second time, picking up four on third and seven.

Lance received two snaps during a third and one situation.

On the first play the ball slipped out of Lance’s hand as he tried to pitch the ball to Jeremy McNichols, but he was able to fall on it. Lance bounced back on the next play, finding McNichols off a bootleg to his right for the first down.

Lance then had two throws during the redzone work. Things did not go well, with the quarterback holding onto the ball too long.

On the first play, Lance stared downfield as the defensive line collapsed around him until Taco Charlton got to him for a sack. The coaches let the play continue with Lance scrambling to his right for a touchdown. The next play saw Lance again hold on to the ball before finally throwing behind Dazz Newsome. On a positive note, this play would have been a win for the offense as the defense jumped offside prior to the snap.

Lance wrapped up his day when he was thrown onto the field for the final play of a move the ball possession started by Sam Darnold. Lance tried to hit Isaiah Winstead over the middle, but the pass was behind the receiver resulting in an incompletion.

Lance finished the day 4-7.

Sam Darnold

Darnold opened his day with a shot off play action to Tay Martin who was running a deep curl on the left side.

The veteran opened his next set of downs with a seven-yard completion to Chris Conley on an out along the left sideline. A poor throw on a screen to Brandon Aiyuk led to an incompletion. Another incompletion followed on the next play when Darnold tried to hit Danny Gray across the middle of the field. The pass was on the mark, but Samuel Womack was there to knock the pass away.

Darnold was given a couple of snaps during a third and one session. On his second play, Darnold found rookie tight end Brayden Willis in the right flat for a first down.

Next up for Darnold came redzone work.

On first down the quarterback missed Tay Martin with a short throw while rolling to his right.  Two plays later he found Willis open over the middle for a touchdown. It appeared as though there was a coverage bust between linebacker Dee Winters and safety Myles Hartsfield which led to the tight end being wide open.

Darnold opened a move the ball possession with the second team offense to close out practice. On first down he found Danny Gray on the right side for a gain of eight. The coverage was tight, but Darnold put the ball in a good spot and Gray made a strong grab. A few plays later he threw a pass away while rolling to his left and was replaced by Lance for the final snap.

Darnold finished 5-9 with one touchdown.

Danny Gray

Gray returned to the practice field yesterday after missing several days with an injury. Today he showed off his hands with a pair of nice grabs, one from Brock Purdy and one from Sam Darnold.

Brandon Aiyuk

Aiyuk has been very good throughout this training camp. Today he beat Ambry Thomas deep for a big reception from Brock Purdy. He later got open in the endzone for a touchdown.

Brayden Willis

The rookie tight end caught both passes which came his way and made them count. His first grab converted a short third down and his second was a touchdown from Sam Darnold.

Ross Dwelley

Dwelley makes the list today for his run blocking. The tight end did a nice job of sealing the edge on a sweep around the right side leading to a big gain for the offense.

Fred Warner

Ran down Christian McCaffrey to record a tackle for loss on the first play of the day. He did this yesterday as well.

Jalen Graham

The rookie linebacker continues to be impressive. Today he shot the gap for a tackle of Jordan Mason.

If you took the numbers off the jerseys and made Graham and Warner stand side by side, it would be difficult to tell the two apart.

Curtis Robinson

With Oren Burks out for the remainder of training camp, Robinson is getting looks with the first unit.

Today he got his hands on a pair of passes from Brock Purdy, bringing one in for an interception. The former Stanford Cardinal is a standout on special teams and is fighting for a spot on the roster.

Talanoa Hufanga

The free safety read Brock Purdy perfectly on the opening play of the day and came away with a pass break up on a throw to Jauan Jennings.

Tashaun Gipson

The veteran safety was in the right spot to come away with an interception in the endzone after Deommodore Lenoir tipped a pass intended for Brandon Aiyuk. Gipson has recorded four interceptions of Brock Purdy during camp.

Samuel Womack

The second-year cornerback had tight coverage on Danny Gray and was able to break up a pass over the middle.

Womack has struggled at the catch point, making this play even more impressive.

Taco Charlton

Got Trey Lance for a sack during a redzone period. Signed after training camp began, Charlton is making a push to stick on the 53-man roster.

Austin Bryant

Bryant has shown he can get to the quarterback during this camp. Today he showed his ability to stop the run when he got to Ty Davis-Price for a tackle behind the line of scrimmage.