"Hike!" Lu Ke announced the snap again, fully focused on the game.
It was the same play, but the running routes were slightly different. Crabtree started to go outside, while Ginn started to cut inside. In addition, Newman ran horizontally to the outside.
Lu Ke's step-back wasn't a large movement. It was just two steps back to adjust his posture, and he gently waved his forearm to make a throwing motion. This time, was it a real or a fake move? The defensive players immediately became alert, but before they could make a decision, the football had already left Lu Ke's hand.
It was a flat, straight pass that flew quickly and powerfully into the open space in the middle. Ted Ginn arrived at the perfect time and easily caught the football in his arms. There wasn't a single defensive player nearby to provide backup. Ginn jogged a few steps forward and then realized that the path in front of him was completely clear. There were no more obstacles, so he slowed down.
A quick snap, a quick pass, a quick finish. The entire play, from start to finish, took less than ten seconds. It was completed again before anyone could even blink. Everything happened so fast that people couldn't react.
The same play was executed twice in less than five minutes. With a few minor changes, the defensive players were like puppets on a string. Lu Ke completely led them around by the nose, causing a defensive mismatch twice in a row. In a real game, both Logan Newman and Ted Ginn could have run all the way to the end zone for a touchdown.
It was clean, powerful, and absolutely humiliating for the defensive team. They were completely dominated and toyed with.
Quick, efficient, and direct. The defensive team had been completely embarrassed.
Lu Ke clenched his right fist and pumped it briefly and forcefully. He gritted his teeth, cheering for himself. After a small celebration, Lu Ke left the field, giving the space to Scott, who was coming up next.
For Lu Ke, after this week's game, he had added his base points to his tactical awareness and observation skills, and the improvement was undoubtedly obvious. His ability to find opportunities in the game had become even better. Since this was just a practice game, the intensity was still different from a real game. All of his passes came effortlessly, and the effect was magnified to the extreme.
But for the defensive players, this was a humiliating nightmare.
Parys put his hands on his hips and took a deep breath, and then another deep breath. But even so, the anger and feeling of being wronged couldn't be relieved. The simmering anger was about to explode. In the end, he took off his helmet and threw it fiercely to the ground. He finally couldn't control his emotions anymore and walked away from the training field. He needed to cool down.
All the conflicts were supposed to be resolved on the training field, so they came to the training field. But who would have thought that in just a few breaths and blinks of an eye, the outcome had already been decided, and the difference was immense.
He was completely helpless, truly helpless. This kind of humiliation made Parys start to tremble uncontrollably.
The coaches all had a playful and expectant look on their faces. Judging purely from Lu Ke's performance, there was no sign of him being an undrafted rookie. Based on the situation on the training field today, his competitive form had actually surpassed Colin Kaepernick's. It wasn't about his absolute ability but his current form.
Of course, sports are never just about numbers. In a real game, there are countless variables. The strongest person doesn't always win in the end, and the weaker person doesn't always lose. This is also the charm of sports. So, judging a person's ability cannot be that simple and crude.
The question now was whether the other three quarterbacks could keep up with Lu Ke's rapid rise.
The tense atmosphere on the training field gradually spread. Both the defensive and offensive teams were a little on edge, and the quarterbacks even more so.
Scott Tolzien, who was up next, performed poorly. There was nothing wrong with the play, but his passing accuracy was off by a lot.
Then Alex Smith seemed to be affected as well. He was sacked and couldn't complete the pass.
Next was Colin Kaepernick. He strayed from the original play and once again used his legs to run out of the pocket, successfully completing an eight-yard pass. Although the pass was completed, the play was a failure.
This trend continued, and the gap in the four quarterbacks' abilities began to show.
Under pressure, Tolzien's performance became unstable, and he gradually fell behind. He still lacked the ability to execute in critical moments.
Kaepernick still had his old problems. His passing accuracy was unstable, and he always wanted to rely on his body. Although he had improved a lot since the preseason, and his memory and understanding of the playbook had made significant progress, it still wasn't enough. In fact, this was a common problem for all rookie quarterbacks. They needed time, more time.
It's worth mentioning that when faced with the same strategic flaw trap, Kaepernick was the only quarterback who was a step behind. He walked onto the field, got behind the offensive line, and only then realized that the play was wrong. Although he bit the bullet and pretended to be aware of it, and then forced a snap, the result was terrible. The entire play was executed incorrectly.
Clearly, as a rookie, Kaepernick still needed more time to learn the plays.
As for Lu Ke, his understanding of the playbook seemed to have adapted to the league's rhythm very quickly. A reasonable explanation would be his perfect score on the Wonderlic test and his tireless study during his spare time. Lu Ke never rested during the Monday and Tuesday breaks, and his playbook and game footage filled all of his time.
In less than two months, including one month of preseason and three weeks of the regular season, his growth was astonishing.
Finally, there was Alex Smith. He was steady, as always. After one sack, his performance went back to normal. His understanding and execution of the play, and his ability to read and control the game, were all fine. But in a tense situation, his attempts at mid and long passes were still a big problem.
It seemed that everything was the same, the familiar formula, the familiar taste. In the end, it was still an old problem: should they choose Alex Smith or Lu Ke? Or, should they choose a veteran or a rookie?
Before the regular season, Jim's plan was to choose a veteran, to have Smith lead the team forward while helping the rookie quarterbacks grow. After a series of accidents, Lu Ke became the starting quarterback, a temporary quarterback, but he surprisingly led the team to a three-game winning streak. So, what should they do now?
Should they stick to the original plan and put Smith back in, giving Lu Ke and Kaepernick more time to grow? Or should they follow the momentum of the game and let Lu Ke continue to be the starter, hoping to continue the team's winning streak?
Simply put, the conflict within the locker room had now been transferred to the coaches. They had to make a decision and a choice that was best for the San Francisco 49ers.
However, this was just the first part of the quarterback competition. Choosing a starting quarterback was obviously not just about this. Otherwise, based on the three regular season games alone, choosing Lu Ke would be an easy choice with no suspense. The reason for having an open and transparent competition during practice was, on one hand, to resolve the locker room conflict and, on the other hand, to evaluate all aspects of the players.
On Thursday afternoon, the team had several other quarterback-focused drills, including passing drills, pocket footwork, avoiding hits, and so on. They were comprehensively evaluating the quarterbacks' skills, but most importantly, their current form.
On Friday morning, the team had another practice game, a full eleven-on-eleven matchup. It wasn't just to choose a quarterback but also to practice the plays for this week's regular season. They were doing targeted drills based on the opponent's defensive strategy and offensive style.
On the training field, the game was still in full swing. At this moment, Alex Smith was leading the offensive team. He was steady and methodical. The effects of his injury were unavoidable, and his footwork and passing choices were not very rational when the pocket broke down. But overall, he had returned to his average level.
There was still some time left before the end of the game. However, this was just a practice game, so winning or losing wasn't important.
"Alex is still steady. Sometimes he's too steady, but sometimes we need that kind of steadiness," Craig Roman said, giving his opinion. "Our team is too young, and we have too many ups and downs. The last two games were like that. If we had Alex to control the pace a little, the game would look a lot better."
Kippy Christ smiled and looked up. "So, you're rooting for Alex?"
Craig's smile froze for a moment. "What about you?"
"I'm rooting for Lu Ke. You know, I've always rooted for Lu Ke. The courage and presence he shows are really too rare. Yes, he might be inconsistent, which could cause the team to completely fall apart and lose the game. But I believe he will never give up easily." Kippy expressed his opinion firmly. "What do you think?"
Craig laughed dryly and then noticed that Jim was also looking at him, his eyes filled with a questioning light. He let out a long breath. "Okay, my rationality tells me I should choose Alex. The team's stability is one thing, and the locker room is another. Most importantly, both Colin and Lu Ke are too young. They still have a lot to learn."
"But?" Kippy raised an eyebrow, sensing the tail that Craig had left in his words.
Craig had a helpless look on his face. "But." Then he saw Kippy smile smugly. "But I'll still choose Lu Ke. We have a lot of problems right now, but what's amazing is that Lu Ke is still leading the team forward. So, why should we change? But in the end, it's Jim who makes the final decision."
Both Craig and Kippy looked at Jim at the same time.
Jim didn't say anything or make any gestures. He silently looked at the field. He quietly waited for the practice game to end, then gathered all the players together again. "There's less than two days left to prepare for this week's regular season game. I know everyone is concerned about who the starting quarterback will be this week. The coaching staff has discussed it and made a decision. We will now announce the starting quarterback, and the rest of the practice will be focused on the starting player."
Without a lot of words, Jim went straight to the point.
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