Day 12 of San Francisco 49ers training camp saw the first-team offense provide a clutch scoring play in a two-minute drive.
Colin Kaepernick found tight end Vernon Davis streaking down the seam for a touchdown from 20-plus yards out on Wednesday evening. The 10th-year veteran got behind a pair of defenders to reach out and grab the perfectly thrown touch pass. Davis' momentum carried him through the back of the end zone where he playfully bounced off the padded wall to stop his momentum.
Kaepernick and offensive teammates proceeded to run down the field and give Davis some much deserve love for his clutch catch.
Wednesday's session featured several end-of-game drives in which Kaepernick, Blaine Gabbert and Dylan Thompson had the opportunities to lead game-winning drives with one timeout and 1:29 left on the clock. The team's practice field scoreboard read 17-21 in favor of the defense.
The game-like scenarios will do the signal-callers well when the 49ers travel to Houston to take on the Texans on Saturday night.
More observations can be found in this practice report.
View the best images from day 12 of 49ers training camp as they gear up for their first preseason game against the Houston Texans.
MVP Kaepernick and Anquan Boldin.
We've already explained Kaepernick's most meaningful throw of the day, but the fifth-year quarterback was rock solid throughout all of the team's red-zone work on the day. Davis and running back Pierre Garçon caught the team-period touchdowns.
As for Boldin, the crafty veteran continues to assert his physical brand of play. Boldin's strength was evident when he was able to box out a cornerback and catch Kaepernick's second pass in an 11-on-11 period. Boldin also showed why he's dangerous in the red zone, catching a pair of touchdowns from Kaepernick in 7-on-7 work.
Boldin added another touchdown in the 1-on-1 red-zone period giving him three touchdowns on the day.
Offensive play of the day
Davis' grab earns the honor here because of what was on the line.
But a silver-medal honor goes to Hyde for his acrobatic red-zone touchdown in 11-on-11 work. After the defense covered up his initial read Kaepernick bought time and found the running back in the back of the end zone. Just as Hyde seemed to be in position to make the catch, a defender jumped in front of the runner, causing Hyde to tip the ball in the air. The suspense, however, ended quickly after when Hyde stayed with the ball and grabbed it before more defenders closed in on him.
Defensive play of the day
Iron sharpend iron during a competitive back-and-forth between Torrey Smith and Tramaine Brock during red-zone 1-on-1 work. Smith was able to slide past Brock's tight coverage to catch a touchdown on his first rep from Kaepernick.
But with general manager Trent Baalke watching nearby, Brock responded by beating Smith to the ball on the wide receiver's second route, leading to a reception short of the goal line.
Brock showed excellent instincts and footwork on the play, driving hard on his right foot to get out and defend the top of Smith's route.Extra Points
- First-team safety Antoine Bethea was given a veteran's day off. Craig Dahl took his place with the first-team defense.
- Rookie Jaquiski Tartt and second-year pro L.J. McCray lined up with the second defense.
- Kendall Hunter did not take part in 11-on-11 work, but the fifth-year back did run full sprints on the adjacent practice field during the final special teams period of the day.
- During the same period, Tony Jerod-Eddie worked on pass-rushing moves with defensive line coach Scott Brown.
- Reggie Bush continues to make impressive receptions out of the backfield. The 30-year-old back caught a pair of Kaepernick passes in the first team period of the day.
- Gabbert connected with tight end Derek Carrier for an impressive touchdown pass in the red zone.
Quote to Note
"We live in a more condensed, 140-character culture. So, I think at least my kids probably spell you, "u." So you try to take advantage of some of that and try to have, if we were playing charades, it would be one syllable words, things that like without giving them too much so that the length of the call, you can count the syllables up. That's a really easy thing to do and because we started this playbook from scratch, we felt like that learning curve has been great and that's an easy way to get out of the huddle is have shorter calls."
- 49ers offensive coordinator Geep Chryst on how the team has simplified play-calling verbiage in 2015.
