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De’Zhaun Stribling is handling one of the most daunting tasks a young receiver could have.
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He’s learning multiple positions in Kyle Shanahan’s offense. And he’s doing it after having plays relayed in different ways when he was in college.
“All the offenses I played in were purely no-huddle and purely signals,” Stribling said after making his preseason debut Thursday night at Levi’s Stadium. “So hearing the quarterback say the words and the cadence on the plays, hearing that and, having to process that, and then up and then get ready is definitely an adjustment.”
Stribling finished with seven catches for 63 yards on just three series in the 49ers’ 19-13 loss Thursday night to the Tennessee Titans. He played both the slot “F” position and outside, indicating he’s adjusting quickly. His highlight of the night was a 32-yard back shoulder deep ball from Kurtis Rourke that required adjusting his body mid-air, making the catch in tight coverage and landing in-bounds.
“Had a man-on-man matchup. He’s playing a little off … 3 yards away,” Stribling said. “I just kind of stepped on his toes with pure speed. Had his hands ready, swiped his hands down, dug out, looked for the ball. Ball felt like it was hanging a little bit, so I had to attack it, not have him get in position to break it up, and just had strong hands through the catch and secured it on the way down.”
Stribling’s ascendance has become one of the stories of August for the 49ers, who could badly use another quality player in the starting lineup to complement newcomer Mike Evans, Christian McCaffrey, George Kittle and Deebo Samuel. There’s a vacuum at receiver with Ricky Pearsall done for the season after having recent surgery to repair the PCL in his right knee.
Stribling’s performance Thursday was in step with his strong showing on the practice field throughout training camp, where he’s already earned the trust of quarterback Brock Purdy.
“Strib has been a guy that has come in and has shown he understands it,” Purdy said this week. “He understands leverages, he understands coverages and our concepts and stuff and where he needs to be. And not only that, the effort and everything too. He’s come in and run multiple routes and reps back after back and then getting in the run game and blocking.
“So all of that, for me as a quarterback, when I see that I’m like, ‘all right dude, this guy’s building my trust with him’ and we’ve connected and made plays together too and we just have to continue to talk and be on the same page and communicate moving forward. But, I’m really excited for him. I’ve said that time and time again. It is preseason and everything, so we’ll see once we get to season, but right now I have a lot of trust in him.”
49ers coach Kyle Shanahan was less effusive in his praise, as he often is with younger players. He said he thought Stribling struggled on his first series but improved as the game wore on.
“He seemed good. We’ll see when we watch the film,” Shanahan said. “I thought he struggled a little bit on the first … and it seemed like he executed all the stuff that went to him, and I liked how his hands looked out there, and he played physical.”
Quarterback goes to hospital
Shanahan said Rourke, who exited the game with a rib injury in the second quarter, was sent by the team to the hospital to get examined further.
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“He was struggling to breathe so they took him to the hospital just to check on everything, make sure he’s all right,” Shanahan said. “X-rays in here didn’t show he broke anything, but we’ll see what we find out tomorrow.”
Rourke appeared to suffer the injury on a quarterback draw near the goal line where he nearly scored. He was having an impressive showing in his first-game action since Dec. 2024 in the College Football Playoff with Indiana in a loss to Notre Dame.
Rourke on Thursday started the game because Purdy and backup Mac Jones were not in uniform. The plan had been for Rourke and Adrian Martinez to handle all the snaps in the first of three preseason games. Rourke completed 12 of 14 passes for 101 yards and added 14 yards on three carries.
Gracen Halton making strong first impression
The 49ers added Oklahoma defensive tackle Gracen Halton to add depth to the interior pass rush after sorely lacking juice from the position in 2025.
Halton, like Stribling, backed up what he’s shown on the practice field with an encouraging preseason debut. He made four combined tackles and had a strong three-play sequence in the second quarter that included a sack of Titans quarterback Cam Ward that was negated by a holding penalty in the secondary.
Still, Halton had an impressive rep pushing back Tennessee left guard Pete Skoronski, who just signed a four-year, $100 million contract extension this offseason.
“Once I get hot, it’s over with,” Halton said, bellowing out a laugh. “I get one and then next thing I’m in my head like, ‘OK, I got this.’ When I build that confidence, it’s over.”
Halton appears to be in line for a backup role behind last year’s draftees Alfred Collins and C.J. West. His pass rushing chops were compared to Osa Odighizuwa, whom the 49ers got in a trade with the Dallas Cowboys this past offseason.
But Halton appears to have already formed a bond with All-Pro pass rusher Nick Bosa.
“He’s a great guy,” Halton said. “I love Nick Bosa. I told him the first time I got here that I’ve been watching him since I was in middle school.”
Halton then did an impression of Bosa — a nonchalant “Yeah” that garnered laughs from reporters in the scrum.
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“That’s my guy though,” Halton said. “I love bro.”