49ers welcome back NaVorro Bowman in preseason win against Cowboys

SANTA CLARA - Forty-Niners fans have found their pets. Rugby transplant Jarryd Hayne and luxuriously maned nose tackle Mike Purcell continue to make cool plays in the preseason.

But if the San Francisco coaching staff is happy to see those guys develop, you can bet they’re way more excited about the performance of a guy with a longer track record.

Inside linebacker NaVorro Bowman made his preseason debut in the 49ers’ 23-6 victory against the Dallas Cowboys at Levi’s Stadium on Sunday night. In fact, it was his first playing time since his left knee was all but destroyed in the 2013 NFC championship game.

Head coach Jim Tomsula said afterward that he wouldn’t have let Bowman see extended action. Tomsula’s plan was to call time out after five plays to get his star off the field. It was Bowman himself who saved his coach the timeout, making tackles on the first three snaps of the game to get the Cowboys off the field.

“It’s a huge relief,” Bowman said. “Just to know I could squat down and take some contact on the knee, and move as quick as the guy running the ball.”

It’s always nice to have your best players on the field, but Bowman’s return has outsized importance to the 49ers this year. In the darkest offseason in memory, the San Francisco defense lost stalwarts Patrick Willis, Justin Smith and Chris Borland to retirement, and cornerback Chris Culliver to free agency. Then the team parted ways with Aldon Smith on Aug. 7 after the fearsome pass rusher’s third drunk driving arrest.

Throw in the departures of a popular head coach and defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, and the unit, and perhaps the entire team, seemed to be in freefall.

One of the few rays of sunshine was the potential return of Bowman, a three-time all-pro. Until he tested the knee in live action, though, it would be hard to erase the doubt. Bowman didn’t play in the 49ers’ first preseason game, at Houston. But he was out there with the starting defense Sunday, and he was a difference-maker.

On the Cowboys’ first play, Bowman plugged the hole and dropped former Raiders running back Darren McFadden after a 1-yard gain. On the second play, Bowman combined with Nick Moody - who is shaping up as Willis’ replacement - to drop McFadden for a 1-yard loss. On the third, Tony Romo threw a pass in the left flat to Lance Dunbar, and Bowman flew in to drop him for another 1-yard loss.

“I was just baiting Tony, making him think I was blitzing the A-gap, thinking he had that running back free out there on the edge,” Bowman said.

Three plays, three Bowman stops, minus-1 yard gained. Hallelujah.

Those two August phenomena were pretty good, too.

Hayne continued to make a second continent fall in love with him, displaying the bravery, speed and open-field agility that made him a star in the Australia’s National Rugby League. He returned three punts for 84 yards in the first half.

The first time he ran on the field, Hayne discovered his visor was smudged and he could barely see. He wiped it off in time to catch Tom Hornsey’s deep punt over his shoulder, then spin around and turn it into a 27-yard return. For his next trick, he made the Dallas gunner miss with a quick first-step juke on a 34-yard return.

Hayne was productive out of the backfield again, too. He had 54 yards on eight carries, including a 34-yard scamper that started with a stiff-arm to put Cowboys safety Jeff Heath on the ground.

Purcell, meanwhile, has become Hayne’s defensive counterpart. After seeing minimal action the past two seasons in San Francisco, he is suddenly vying for playing time on the defensive line. Against Dallas he intercepted an ill-advised pass by third-string quarterback Dustin Vaughan and returned it 37 yards for a touchdown.

Purcell said it was probably his first TD since freshman year of high school, when he played fullback.

“And, yes, I did keep the ball,” he said.

From first stringers through fourth, the 49ers dominated this game. The Cowboys didn’t pick up their initial first down until six minutes into the second quarter, and they were outmuscled in every phase of the game.

Phil Dawson made two short field goals for the Niners in the first half, and camp kicker Corey Acosta added another in the third quarter.

Quinton Patton punctuated the 49ers’ efforts when he blocked Hornsey’s punt early in the fourth quarter and recovered it in the end zone for a touchdown. The Cowboys finally got on the board with 4:11 remaining when Jameill Showers and Nick Harwell connected on an 8-yard touchdown pass.

One strong performer that should not go unmentioned: the Levi’s Stadium grass field. The turf here has been scrutinized, analyzed and mocked since the first time the 49ers played on it, and the criticism didn’t abate this summer as it once again came apart in divots. The Cowboys even hinted they’d hold out some of their top players if the field wasn’t up to their standards. But there were no issues Sunday.

“Anything I said about that grass, I’m wrong, I take back,” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones offered after the game. “It’s a great playing surface. They’ve done a lot of work. I feel terrible that in any way, without coming up here and doing my own grass inspection, that I had any criticism of their grass”

The field held up, as did NaVorro Bowman and the San Francisco defense.

You can reach Staff Writer Phil Barber at 521-5263 or phil.barber@pressdemocrat.com. Follow him on Twitter @Skinny_Post.