Cowing returns punt for TD to spark the 49ers in 41-17 preseason win over the Chargers

INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Jacob Cowing let out a season's worth of frustration with one electric play.

He returned a punt for an 83-yard touchdown in the San Francisco 49ers' 41-17 preseason victory over the Los Angeles Chargers on Thursday night.

Cowing showed off his speed and agility after the Chargers went 3-and-out with three minutes left in the second quarter. Chargers punter JK Scott kicked 52 yards to the 49ers’ 17-yard line, where Cowing fielded the ball. He dashed to the left and ran in for the score, giving San Francisco a 17-3 lead.

“It was a special moment,” Cowing said. "Huge shoutout to the guys that were on that field blocking for me and gave great effort. If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t have been in the house.”

49ers coach Kyle Shanahan called it “a big-time play.”

“He’s always shown us his talent since he’s been here and he’s been able to string together a couple healthy weeks,” Shanahan said.

Cowing missed all of last season after injuring his hamstring during the preseason. Now he's healthy and battling for a roster spot at wide receiver.

“It was a lot going on last year, and a lot of mental warfare going on, and you know things happening over and over and over again, injury-wise,” Cowing said. “I’m happy that I was able to come out of the game healthy and put my name out there again.”

Eddy Pineiro kicked a pair of field goals and 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy saw his first preseason action, going 4 of 6 for 29 yards in the first quarter.

“I thought it was good, just in terms of breaking the huddle, calling plays, feeling the pocket, getting hit, like throwing the ball,” Purdy said.

Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert played the opening series in his first appearance of the preseason. He was 1 of 2, hitting Charlie Kolar with a 9-yard pass as the team went 3-and-out.

The 49ers (1-1) got field goals of 48 and 45 yards from Pineiro in the second quarter and led 20-3 at halftime. Their other TDs came on a 7-yard run by Sincere McCormick and a 1-yard plunge by fourth-string running back Khalil Herbert.

49ers running back Christian McCaffrey didn't play although he was on the field for pregame warmups. Shanahan has downplayed what he described as “tightness” for McCaffrey, saying the veteran would be practicing if it was the regular season.

The Chargers were stuck in neutral most of the game. They had eight punts, seven penalties and eight first downs. They scored late in the game on Jerand Bradley's 28-yard TD catch from DJ Uiagalelei and Evan Svoboda's 2-point conversion.

"We got outplayed and we beat ourselves in all three phases,” Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh said. “We have a lot of things to work on.”

Los Angeles (1-1) closed to 20-9 in the third. 49ers' fourth-string QB Adrian Martinez's pass for Cowing was intercepted by Junior Colson, who ran 16 yards for the score. Cameron Dicker's extra point attempt went wide left. Dicker hit a 21-yard field goal for the Chargers' first points of the game.

Martinez scored on a 9-yard keeper and then hit Jordan Watkins for a 17-yard TD in the fourth.

49ers backup QB Mac Jones took over on their second drive of the game. He was 6 of 13 for 89 yards.

Rookie De'Zhaun Stribling and KhaDarel Hodge led the 49ers' receivers with four catches for 46 yards apiece. McCormick was their top rusher with 53 yards on six carries.

Chargers backup QB Trey Lance, a former top pick of the 49ers, was 10 of 16 for 73 yards.

Chargers left tackle Branson Taylor was hurt on a play in the second quarter and did not return.

49ers: At Las Vegas next Thursday in final preseason game.

Chargers: Host SoFi Stadium cotenant the Rams next Thursday to close preseason.

See AP’s full NFL coverage here

San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel Sr., middle, is tackled by Los Angeles Chargers linebacker Daiyan Henley (0) and defensive back Deane Leonard (33) during the first half of a preseason NFL football game, Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

San Francisco 49ers wide receiver De'Zhaun Stribling (15) catches a pass against Los Angeles Chargers defensive back Tony Jefferson (23) during the first half of a preseason NFL football game, Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert (10) drops back to pass during the first half of a preseason NFL football game against the San Francisco 49ers, Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy (13) passes against the Los Angeles Chargers during the first half of a preseason NFL football game, Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

San Francisco 49ers running back Kaelon Black, left, is tackled by Los Angeles Chargers defensive back Avery Smith during the first half of a preseason NFL football game, Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

TOKYO (AP) — A man who killed five people by setting fire to a pachinko parlor in 2009 was hanged Friday in Japan's first execution by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi 's government as the country faces growing calls for more transparency and the abolition of capital punishment.

Sunao Takami set fire to the crowded pachinko parlor in Osaka by spreading gasoline and throwing a lit match, engulfing the building, killing five and injuring 10 others, Justice Minister Hiroshi Hiraguchi said.

“It caused extremely serious outcomes and dealt a major shock and fear to the society,” he told a news conference, adding “the victims whose lives were taken away must have felt unimaginable pain and fear, and those who suffered injuries ... were forced to live with long-term effects.”

“As justice minister, I have ordered an execution after careful and thorough considerations,” he said. The Justice Ministry said the hanging took place earlier Friday.

Takami, 58, was convicted of murder, attempted murder and arson and sentenced to death in a 2011 Osaka District Court ruling. His appeals were rejected in 2016 by a Supreme Court decision upholding the death penalty.

Japan now has 100 people on death row, including 43 seeking retrials, Hiraguchi said.

Japan has faced growing criticism over its use of the death penalty, as a majority of the international community has abolished capital punishment. Japan and the U.S. are the only two countries in the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations that put people to death.

Calls to abolish capital punishment or increase transparency have grown after the 2024 acquittal of the world’s longest-serving death-row inmate, Iwao Hakamada.

Executions are carried out in secrecy in Japan, where prisoners are not informed of their fate until the morning of their hanging.

Since 2007, Japan has begun disclosing the names of those executed and some details of their crimes, but disclosures are still limited.

Hiraguchi said he has no intention to change the practice, saying disclosure of additional details would disturb the mental state of the death-row inmates.

He defended hanging as a valid method of execution, citing a number of past Supreme Court decisions saying hanging is not considered more cruel than other methods of execution such as lethal injections, electrocution and shooting.

Hiraguchi cited surveys showing the vast majority of Japanese supporting death penalty as an unavoidable option. Whether to retain or abolish capital punishment is a crucial issue that affects the core of Japan's criminal justice system and requires careful consideration and broad public debate, he said.

Friday’s hanging was the first by Takaichi’s government and took place during a parliamentary recess — a move criticized as a tactic to avoid public debate. Hiraguchi denied it was intentional.

Japan in 2025 executed a man known as the “Twitter killer," who was convicted of killing and dismembering nine people in his apartment near Tokyo in 2017.

Japan’s crime rate is relatively low, but some high-profile mass killings have occurred in recent years.

Justice Minister Hiroshi Hiraguchi speaks during a news conference on an execution of a man convicted of killing multiple people after setting fire to an Osaka pachinko parlor in 2009, in Tokyo, Friday, Aug. 21, 2026. (Masanori Kumagai/Kyodo News via AP)

This photo shows a deadly fire at a pachinko parlor in Osaka, western Japan, July 5, 2009. (Kyodo News via AP)