The San Francisco 49ers flew home from Australia with a statement win and another receiver problem.
They beat the Los Angeles Rams 27-7 on Thursday night at Melbourne Cricket Ground in front of 100,021 fans, the seventh-largest regular-season crowd in NFL history. Brock Purdy completed 25 of 34 passes for 205 yards and three touchdowns with one interception. His passer rating was 105.6.
The celebration came with a familiar sting. Rookie wide receiver De’Zhaun Stribling left in the second quarter with a left ankle injury and did not return. He had already tweaked the same ankle earlier in the game, came back in, then went down without contact while running a route.
Coach Kyle Shanahan offered the first update after the game.
“They checked his Achilles,” Shanahan said. “They said that was intact, but they’re not exactly sure of the magnitude of the ankle injury.”
That is the good news. The bad news is nobody knows how long he will be out. The 49ers already lost Ricky Pearsall for the season after he underwent surgery on a lingering PCL injury from last year. Pearsall, a 2024 first-round pick, played in only 20 games over two seasons.
Stribling was supposed to help fill that hole. The 49ers took the Ole Miss product with the 33rd overall pick in April. He is 6-foot-2 and 207 pounds and ran a 4.36-second 40-yard dash. He looked like a preseason standout and, by the time he left the Rams game, he was leading all 49ers receivers in snaps, including newcomer Mike Evans.
San Francisco still has Evans and Deebo Samuel. After those two, the depth chart gets thin in a hurry. That is why one analyst thinks the front office should start shopping.
Zachary Rotman of FanSided floated a deal Friday that would send Carolina Panthers wide receiver Xavier Legette to the 49ers for a 2027 fourth-round pick and a 2027 sixth-round pick that originally belonged to the Baltimore Ravens.
Legette, the 32nd overall pick in the 2024 draft, finished last season with 35 catches on 59 targets for 363 yards and three touchdowns. He averaged 10.4 yards per reception and added 74 yards after the catch. His PFF receiving grade was 54.7.
Those numbers are modest. Rotman did not pretend otherwise.
“Stribling, a preseason standout, was supposed to play a major role for the Niners this season,” Rotman wrote. “In fact, by the time Stribling left the game, he was leading all Niners receivers – including Mike Evans – in snaps. Losing him makes an already iffy wide receiver room even thinner…
“I’m not here to say Legette has been a world-beater in his two-year NFL career, but he was a first-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, and perhaps, moving to an offense with a better quarterback and head coach, he can find his footing. Giving up a pair of day-three picks for needed receiver depth (Legette has additional control too) feels like an ideal move for a win-now team to make.”
The 49ers certainly look like a win-now team after Thursday. Purdy shook off an early interception and took over in the second half. Tight end George Kittle, who had two catches for 12 yards, liked what he saw.
“Besides the one pass he threw into quadruple coverage to me, which I appreciate, Brock, keep throwing those; besides that, I mean, he was on all day, and then I think he really took control of the game,” Kittle told ESPN. “He had that long scramble for a first down that kept us on the field for another touchdown. I mean, his confidence is soaring. I think he found his groove in Week 1. Wouldn’t that be nice?”
The defense, now coordinated by former Rams assistant Raheem Morris, held Matthew Stafford to 155 yards and one score. The Rams had not been held to single digits in 49 straight games, including the playoffs.
San Francisco’s next game is not until Sept. 20, which gives the medical staff time to sort out Stribling’s ankle. If the rookie is going to miss significant time, the trade conversation is not going away. Two late-round picks for a former first-round receiver with remaining contract control is the kind of low-risk move contenders make in September.
Whether general manager John Lynch actually picks up the phone is another question. For now the 49ers are 1-0, Purdy looks sharp, and the receiver room is one ankle sprain thinner than it was when they left for Australia.
