The 49ers saw two of their top pass catchers leave Sunday’s win with injuries and head coach Kyle Shanahan said the team is still hoping to add to their receiving corps in the coming days.
Kendrick Bourne played his first four NFL seasons with the team and visited the Niners and Commanders last week as he looks for a new place to play. The 49ers made Bourne an offer and Shanahan said after beating the Seahawks 17-13 that the team wants to bring Bourne back.
“I know it’s a possibility we can get him,” Shanahan said, via 49ersWebzone.com. “I know we’re still trying. Hopefully, that can work out.”
Tight end George Kittle left in the first half with a hamstring injury and wide receiver Jauan Jennings departed after hurting his shoulder in the second half. Shanahan said both players will have MRIs to determine the extent of their injuries.
Sam Darnold got a chance to play hero in his first start with the Seahawks, but he wasn’t able to make it happen.
After the 49ers took a 17-13 lead with 1:34 left to play, Darnold hit wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba with an 11-yard pass and a 40-yard strike to move the team into position to score a game-winning touchdown. On a second down from the 49ers’ 9-yard-line, the Seahawks’s chances ran out.
Defensive end Nick Bosa bullied right tackle Abe Lucas and stripped Darnold on a sack. Bosa recovered the ball and the 49ers could celebrate a win in the season opener.
The 49ers took the lead when quarterback Brock Purdy bought time on a third down before throwing a pass in the direction of tight end Jake Tonges in the end zone. It looked like Seahawks cornerback Riq Woolen might pick the ball off, but Tonges was able to secure the ball for his first NFL touchdown. Purdy hit wide receiver Ricky Pearsall for 45 yards to set up the score and the finish helps make his two interceptions a little easier to swallow.
Tonges was in the game because George Kittle, who also caught a touchdown, was knocked out with a hamstring injury in the first half of the game. The 49ers also lost wide receiver Jauan Jennings to a shoulder injury and saw their special teams units make multiple blunders in another unwelcome reminder of last season.
Jake Moody missed a 27-yard field goal and had another try blocked, which is sure to lead to questions for Kyle Shanahan about a potential change at that spot. The win will make it a little more bearable for Shanahan to face those questions, but it’s something the 49ers have to sort out given how much Moody struggled last season.
Darnold and Smith-Njigba showed good chemistry on nine catches for 124 yards, but Cooper Kupp had just two catches for 15 yards and the Seahawks only got 106 yards from the rest of the offense. The team has a new offensive coordinator in Klint Kubiak to go with their new quarterback, but they’ll need to speed up the learning curve in order to avoid more results like Sunday’s.
They’ll be in Pittsburgh next weekend while the 49ers will visit the Saints in search of a 2-0 start.
The 49ers got wide receiver Jauan Jennings back from a calf injury in time to play in Week 1 against the Seahawks, but he didn’t make it through the game before suffering another injury.
Jennings hurt his shoulder during the second half of the opener and the 49ers are calling him questionable to return on Sunday. He had two catches for 16 yards before leaving the game.
The 49ers also lost tight end George Kittle to a hamstring injury in the first half and they were already without Brandon Aiyuk and Demarcus Robinson, so they are running short on bodies.
They have also had to overcome special teams blunders, but they are tied 10-10 with over seven minutes left to play.
The 49ers stuck with kicker Jake Moody after a rough 2024 season, but he didn’t repay their confidence in the first half on Sunday.
Moody banged a 27-yard field goal off the upright late in the second quarter, which left the game tied 7-7 and gave the Seahawks a chance to drive for the lead before the end of the first half. Sam Darnold was able to bring his team into 49ers territory and ran out of bounds with seven seconds to play in the half to give Jason Myers a chance from 48 yards out.
Myers did his job better than his 49ers counterpart and the Seahawks lead 10-7 as a result.
Darnold was 7-of-11 for 72 yards in his first half as the team’s starting quarterback. Their two scoring drives covered 119 yards, but they had just 16 yards on their other three possessions.
Moody was 24-of-34 on field goals last season and the team will have to give serious thought to whether they want to give someone else a try in the job. The 49ers will also have to make do without tight end George Kittle, who was knocked out with a hamstring injury after scoring a touchdown early in the game.
49ers tight end George Kittle scored a touchdown to cap the team’s first offensive possession of the season, but he won’t be doing anything else to help the team against the Seahawks on Sunday.
Kittle suffered a hamstring injury later in the first half and the 49ers announced that he has been ruled out for the rest of the game as a result. Luke Farrell and Jake Tonges are the other tight ends for the Niners.
Kittle had four catches for 25 yards before being knocked out of action.
Linebacker Fred Warner and left tackle Trent Williams have also visited the 49ers’ medical tent, but they are both still in the game.
