Hayne takes a punt in Denver
Jarryd Hayne has entered the San Francisco 49ers’ game against the Denver Broncos, taking a punt cleanly near his 30 yard line and crashing to a 12-yard gain.
Hayne was soon after called on to play running back, with his first carry for no gain and he failed to catch a difficult pass from 49ers back-up Blaine Gabbert.
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The 49ers led 9-8 at the end of the third quarter in Denver.
Hayne’s in the third NFL match of his career _ this preseason game being held at Mile High Stadium in Denver, who San Francisco beat 55-10 to win Super Bowl XXIV in 1990.
San Francisco stopped Denver on their first possession, but veteran Reggie Bush fielded the first punt of the day for the Niners instead of Hayne.
Bush ran the ball back four yards, but a 10-yard penalty on the play against the 49ers had the visitors start on their 23-yard line.
The 49ers struggled early on offence, and Denver opened the scoring with a 37-yard field goal to make it 3-0 late in the opening quarter.
San Francisco put DeAndrew White on the first kickoff return of the day for the Niners, and he brought the ball out of the end zone for a 30-yard return to the team’s 22-yard line.
As teams get closer to the regular season, they tend to play their starters more, so Hayne’s opportunities in the Denver game have been more limited than in previous outings.
Hayne has made headlines with his exciting play as a punt returner and at running back in his first two NFL preseason outings.
In his last match against Dallas, Hayne averaged 28 yards per punt return, and rushed eight times for 54 yards, including a breakaway run of 34 yards in San Francisco’s 23-6 win.
All NFL sides have to trim their rosters to 75 players by September 2, with a final cut four days later producing a 53-player roster by September 6.