{"id":421355,"date":"2026-08-02T03:07:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-02T03:07:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/421355\/"},"modified":"2026-08-02T03:07:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-02T03:07:14","slug":"49ers-mike-evans-brock-purdy-working-on-jump-ball-chemistry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/421355\/","title":{"rendered":"49ers’ Mike Evans, Brock Purdy working on jump ball chemistry"},"content":{"rendered":"

SANTA CLARA \u2013 Mike Evans<\/a> graciously stopped on his way to the 49ers locker room Friday<\/a> to answer one more question about his jump-ball skills.<\/p>\n

Does he know about R.C. Owens\u2019 \u201cAlley-Oop\u201d touchdown grabs, or much else about the 49ers\u2019 history?<\/p>\n

\u201cI do not. I do need to learn some,\u201d Evans said with a curious and respectful tone.<\/p>\n

\"SanSan Francisco 49ers’ Mike Evans speaks during a press conference at Levi’s Stadium practice field in Santa Clara, Calif., on Friday, July 31, 2026. (Shae Hammond\/Bay Area News Group)\u00a0<\/p>\n

Seventy years after Owens pioneered a way to snag touchdown passes from quarterbacks Y.A. Tittle and John Brodie, Evans\u2019 ability to do the same for Brock Purdy might be the only sure thing this season from the 49ers\u2019 highly questionable receiving corps.<\/p>\n

Those lingering questions:<\/p>\n

\u2014 Can Deebo Samuel<\/a> summon his 2021 All-Pro form in his encore act, having agreed Thursday to return on a one-year, $7 million deal?<\/p>\n

\u2014 Is Ricky Pearsall\u2019s right knee injury<\/a> serious enough to cost him this season, after missing half of last season?<\/p>\n

\u2014 How instant a star can rookie De\u2019Zhaun Stribling be and how is his glowing start to camp different from those of Pearsall in 2024 and Jordan Watkins last summer?<\/p>\n

\u2014 Will Christian Kirk\u2019s calf strain during the camp\u2019s first practice keep him out much longer?<\/p>\n

See, this is why Evans\u2019 addition is so vital for Purdy and the pass game, for providing such a credible threat, especially near the end zone.<\/p>\n

In Friday\u2019s first red zone drill of training camp, Purdy wisely threw a ball that the 6-foot-5 Evans snatched high at the goal line, with an almost unnecessary leap against 5-foot-9 cornerback Upton Stout.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m 6-5. I have ability and I\u2019ve done it throughout my career,\u201d said Evans, whose 108 touchdown catches are 10th most in NFL history. \u201cYou just talk to quarterbacks about it, like, \u2018When I\u2019m covered, I\u2019m still pretty open if you throw the ball up and get some air.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s one of the biggest things in my game.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TampaTampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady (12) celebrates with wide receiver Mike Evans (13) after Evans caught a 3-yard touchdown pass during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 19, 2021, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo\/Mark LoMoglio)\u00a0<\/p>\n

In Evans\u2019 past 12 seasons at Tampa Bay, he made 51 touchdowns from inside the 10-yard line, and 26 from inside the 4-yard line.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s another history lesson for Evans: Such jump-ball skills would have served the 49ers well in, say, the 2012 team\u2019s Super Bowl that ended with Colin Kaepernick\u2019s failed fade passes to Michael Crabtree in the end zone.<\/p>\n

Back in 1957, R.C. Owens showed that prowess, and today inside the 49ers\u2019 museum at Levi\u2019s Stadium is a statue of him making an \u201cAlley Oop\u201d catch. His enshrinement to the Edward J. DeBartolo Sr. 49ers Hall of Fame came 15 years ago, along with that of Roger Craig, who\u2019ll be entering the Pro Football Hall of Fame next weekend.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was in college (at Texas A&M), I made a living off of getting open. Johnny Manziel, we had a good connection on jump balls,\u201d Evans said. \u201cI\u2019ve always used my frame. It comes from my basketball background. I love to box defenders out. And I love competing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Evans won a Super Bowl catching passes from Tom Brady with the 2020 Bucs. Now, Purdy is the one leading this ring chase.<\/p>\n

\u201cBrock is a super accurate quarterback,\u201d Evans said. \u201cHe hasn\u2019t overthrown me yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"SanSan Francisco 49ers’ Mike Evans (5) catches the ball during practice at Levi’s Stadium practice field in Santa Clara, Calif., on Friday, July 31, 2026. (Shae Hammond\/Bay Area News Group)\u00a0<\/p>\n

There are just nine players in NFL history with more regular-season touchdown catches than Evans\u2019 108. Ahead of him are: Jerry Rice (197), Randy Moss (156), Terrell Owens (153), Cris Carter (130), Marvin Harrison (128), Larry Fitzgerald (121), Davante Adams (117), Antonio Gates (116) and Tony Gonzalez (111).<\/p>\n

Cornerback Deommodore Lenoir said Evans \u201cstill has juice. I know people talk about his age. He still moves really well and is still the same Mike Evans.\u201d<\/p>\n

Evans turns 33 on Aug. 21.<\/p>\n

\u201cMike is a real competitor, a real savvy guy,\u201d cornerback Renardo Green added. \u201cSo seeing him make moves that a lot of guys can\u2019t, seeing how he tracks the ball and is as a pro, it\u2019s very interesting. I like competing against Mike. A dog recognizes a dog.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for how best to defend a jump ball, Green said: \u201cMike\u2019s a physical guy so you better get physical and fight pressure with pressure. Then at that point it\u2019s about adjusting and playing the ball.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SANTA CLARA \u2013 Mike Evans graciously stopped on his way to the 49ers locker room Friday to answer…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":421356,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[19108,13734,949,402,181,752,182,296,88,90,89,127],"class_list":["post-421355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-jose","tag-49ers-alert","tag-49ers-hq","tag-football","tag-inside-sports","tag-latest-headlines","tag-nfl","tag-pm-report","tag-san-francisco-49ers","tag-san-jose","tag-san-jose-headlines","tag-san-jose-news","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421355","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=421355"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421355\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/421356"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=421355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=421355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=421355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}