After two more days of practices in Santa Clara, the 49ers will travel to Denver to go up against the Broncos for two days of work before the clubs meet Monday night in a nationally televised preseason game.
The 49ers’ offense figures to benefit greatly from the work against the defense of first-year coach Vic Fangio, who served as 49ers defensive coordinator during the successful four-year run of former coach Jim Harbaugh.
Nick Mullens, who is locked in a competition with C.J. Beathard for the No. 2 job behind Jimmy Garoppolo, said he is looking forward to working against a defense different than the one he has seen every day in practice up to this point.
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“You just get more competition,” Mullens said on The 49ers Insider Podcast. “We’ve practiced 11 times during camp and it doesn’t get monotonous, but at the same time you’d rather be going against somebody else.”
Teams in the preseason might be reluctant to show a lot in the games because of a possible competitive advantage gained from not showing plays or variations that can be unveiled in the regular season. But in a joint practice, where the film is not distributed to the other 30 teams, schemes can get more elaborate and challenging for the opponent.
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“Coach Fangio is obviously a well-respected coach, and a great defensive mind, so it’s always cool to practice against a great defensive scheme like they have over there,” Mullens said. “The more looks that you can get in practice, the more coverages, everything you’re seeing, the more you can see, the more you’ll gain experience from.”
San Francisco 49ers
Mullens completed 11 of 17 pass attempts for 105 yard with one touchdown and one interception on Saturday night in the 49ers’ preseason opener against the Dallas Cowboys. Beathard was 13 of 17 for 141 yards with one touchdown and one interception.