With just over a minute left in the first quarter of the San Francisco 49ers' 33-14 preseason loss to the Denver Broncos, quarterback Brian Hoyer lost the football. It wasn't just a turnover. Hoyer literally lost the football. He had no idea what happened to it.
On 3rd-and-11, Hoyer dropped back, found his target and tried to throw the football. The problem was that when his arm went forward, something was missing – the football. Broncos defensive end Shelby Harris ended up with the football in his arms. It was one of four first half turnovers in the game, all of which resulted in points for Denver.
Rarely do you see a quarterback wind up and lose the football without getting touched. Hoyer discussed the bizarre play following the game.
"I was getting ready to rip it to (WR Jeremy) Kerley," Hoyer said. "He had a double-move route and I thought he was going to win. I went to throw it and I was going to throw it hard and, literally, I think my arm even went forward and then you're like looking around like, 'Where's the — what happened to the ball?'
"My quarterback coach asked me, 'When's the last time that happened to you?' I think maybe a few years ago in practice it happened one time. I've never really had that happen in a game. It's like the worst feeling. You go to throw the ball and you're looking and then all of a sudden you look around — you have no idea where it is. It literally is the worst feeling that I've had as a quarterback."
Hoyer didn't feel that the ball was slippery or that anything else went wrong during the play. From his perspective, the football just vanished from his hands.
"There's a lot of stuff going on out there," Hoyer said. "All I know is that I went to go throw the ball and my arm went forward and the ball wasn't in it."
One positive from Hoyer's preseason playing time has been the fact that he has gotten good protection from his offensive line. He has not yet been sacked.
"I thought our pass protection was unbelievable," Hoyer said. "I didn't get touched all night and that's two weeks in a row against two pretty good defenses where our offensive line has done a great job in pass protection."
Hoyer completed eight of his 11 passes for 89 yards and an interception against the Broncos.