The Denver Broncos' defense came out strong during Thursday's joint practice, dominating the San Francisco 49ers' offense in the opening team drills. Quarterback Brock Purdy and the offense struggled to find rhythm early, and had it been a live game, Purdy likely would have been sacked multiple times.
Fortunately, the 49ers' offense found its footing later in the session. After weeks of practicing against the same teammates over and over, Purdy emphasized the value of joint practices in preparing for the regular season, especially when facing unfamiliar schemes and personnel.
"Obviously, there's some plays that you remember, that you wish you had back, and whatnot," Purdy said after practice, "but I thought that, going up against another team, and competing against another team, a different set of first-string starters in the NFL, a new scheme and stuff, I thought it was really good for our guys."
Media on hand noted the Broncos appeared to bring more energy and intensity, particularly in the early portion of practice.
"That's definitely true," Purdy acknowledged. "I think they came out ready to roll, to compete. You could feel them. They were in the backfield a couple of times, and had a couple of sacks, and obviously, some TFLs (tackles for a loss), it looked like. So, they were ready to roll."
Still, Purdy pushed back a little on the notion that the 49ers weren't competing.
"But at the same time, it's not like we weren't competing at all," he continued. "We are, and there's things that we need to get better at. That's why we're practicing. But I also do think it was nice to have a long practice like that, so that we practice, we get fatigued—that's going to happen in games. [Sometimes], you're not going to have a great first half, but you regroup, and then, it's like, how are you going to finish?"
Purdy credited the offense for bouncing back in the latter half of practice, showing resilience.
"I thought we had a good second half of the practice," Purdy said, "facing some adversity like that as an offense, and then bouncing back and having some good periods at the end. I thought it was really good for us.
"We need that kind of stuff to sort of understand where we're at, and where we need to get better, and learn from it, and understand that football is not going to be perfect—but how are you going to respond?"
The 49ers will host the Broncos on Saturday at Levi's Stadium for the preseason opener for both teams.
Purdy's growing chemistry with Ricky Pearsall
Purdy also spoke about his developing connection with second-year wide receiver Ricky Pearsall, which has noticeably progressed throughout training camp.
During Thursday's practice, Purdy hit Pearsall for a 30-plus-yard touchdown to the back right corner of the end zone during the move-the-ball period—drawing praise from those in attendance. Plays like that are becoming more common in recent practices, a promising sign for the 49ers' offense heading into the regular season.
"It's something that we've been practicing this whole offseason—on laying the ball, and him being where he needs to be, and him fighting through contact and getting separation," Purdy shared. "And then, the ball was right there, and it was just good timing. It's something that we've been repping, and so, I'm glad we got that against another defense in a crucial situation. I think it was third down, and we needed that. And he made the catch and scored.
"Obviously, I love the fact that we were able to do that, but it just goes back to us building reps on reps on reps, all these last couple of practices throughout camp and stuff, and we need to continue to do that going into the season."