The offense got off to a fast start on the first day of camp, but the defense has dominated the past two days. The offense celebrated not having any pre-snap penalties in the first practice, but that’s been an issue the past two days. The offense has looked disjointed overall, with a lot of pressure in the backfield. Some of that is edge rushers winning on the outside; some of it seems to be protection breakdowns on blitzes.
Every practice ends with a two-minute drive. The first-team offense took a sack (Kayvon Thibodeaux/Brian Burns), settled for a checkdown (Burns pressure) and then took an apparent offensive penalty that drained the clock. Harbaugh gave the first-team offense another shot, and that ended with Darius Alexander‘s impressive interception.
It was third-and-10 from the defense’s 29-yard line with 23 seconds remaining. Trailing by three points, the offense was in field goal range, but it never got the opportunity due to the turnover.
Quarterback Jaxson Dart got the offense into the defense’s territory with a pretty pass to Calvin Austin III on a deep out. Dart waited for a receiver to clear out the corner, and Austin broke into a wide-open area along the sideline.
Those second-level throws have been the highlight of camp for Dart. Earlier, he hit Darius Slayton on a deep crosser. Dart was patient and layered the throw over the second level for Slayton to run under it. Dart’s touch on those throws has been on point in camp.
