The San Francisco 49ers trained for the eighth time in ten days on Sunday, and the team did everything they could to keep the energy up. Sunday was like one of those “dog days” where you try to get out of practice unharmed. Unfortunately, that was not the case for the Niners.
Jas covered all three injuries that occurred in training. The first injury was to Dee Ford. This happened during the 1 on 1 when Ford faced Mike McGlinchey. It looked like Ford’s calf or ankle. He was trying to escape the wound during the session. Once that didn’t work, Ford decided to shut it down.
The biggest injury happened to Ross Reynolds, who was playing center and was curled up. It didn’t take long for the team to get the cart out. When this happens, you know the injury is serious. Trent Williams and McGlinchey were the first two players to step out and greet Reynolds. Here’s McGlinchey on Reynolds:
“I hope it’s not as bad as it looked, and we can say our prayers for Ross today on the Lord’s Day, and I hope all goes well, and we get him back as quickly.” as possible.
The latest injury came in the first round Brandon Aiyuk, who traveled a deep run along the sideline and hit his hamstring. The team did not announce the severity of the injury. When it happened, I didn’t think about it, but Aiyuk didn’t come back.
Nick Bosa was absent for the second day in a row. Richard Sherman did not practice either. We can assign them to “maintenance” days. Jordan Reed stretched with the team for the first time on Sunday, but he did not participate in any individual or team exercises.
Offense
Strategist
Backups looked like backups again. Nick Mullens hit Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles in the numbers on a pass down the middle.
Jimmy Garoppolo continues to throw a nice deep ball. He lets his receivers run under his passes, which is nice to see. His touchline on the sideline has improved dramatically since last season. Another positive note is that Garoppolo is working through his progressions. He found Aiyuk, his third reading on the coin, for the first descent on a loop course.
Jimmy G missed shots on throws from Jerick McKinnon and Trent Taylor today. Taylor snuck behind the defense on a deep road and was wide open, but Jimmy missed him. Taylor threw up his arms in disbelief, wondering why he had failed to send the ball to her. As for McKinnon, he and Garoppolo are still not on the same page. It will be something to watch out for at the start of the season.
Come back
Mostert continues to receive the bulk of the ports, and hopefully it will stay that way when the season begins. His patience, vision and speed make Mostert a threat every time he touches the ball. He had some great runs today.
As for McKinnon, when he’s 1 on 1 with a linebacker, he steals for offense. I feel like you could tell linebackers what McKinnon is running and he would still be open. He’s always been a winner on “Texas” roads in the middle. Today he beat Fred Warner on a deep road, but Garoppolo knocked him down. It was a great game design to get McKinnon 1v1, and he would have easily scored.
After the UDFA took the ball to the ground on Saturday, Jeff Wilson saw extended action on Sunday. Neither JaMaycal Hasty nor Salvon Ahmed received a representative with the backups.
Wide receivers
Before going down, Aiyuk was active. At this point, he looks more like the player taken at No.13 than Javon Kinlaw. Aiyuk is the 49ers’ best deep threat by far, but he also knows how to open up below.
Jamar Taylor must be tired of babysitting Trent Taylor after this week. Taylor was often open for practice on Sunday. There is a reason he attracts the attention of his teammates and coaches.
Dante Pettis and Shawn Poindexter toured occasionally with the starters. At this point, I would nod to Poindexter if it fell between him and Jauan Jennings. Poindexter beat Jason Verrett on a nice road or corner post, but he was not targeted. Poindexter is a tall catcher who also had some nice catches in the middle of the field.
Pettis had a step over Dontae Johnson on the sideline, but he dropped the pass. These are the kinds of mistakes he cannot afford to make.
Tight end
George Kittle only made it to the first team session and sat down after that, so we took an in-depth look at Charlie Woerner, who didn’t make any notable plays, but neither did glaring errors.
With Ross Dwelley and Reed not practicing, the 49ers tried the tight ends Caleb Repp and Erik Swoope.
Offensive line
Like Kittle, Trent Williams missed most of the team drills. Neither is injured.
The biggest problem today came to the right guard, where Tom Compton and Colton McKivitz held the post. Compton had a lot of problems and was getting beaten left and right. McKivitiz finally came to get him.
Defense
Defensive line
Without sounding hyperbolic, Solomon Thomas made a strong argument for the best player on the pitch today. He has a plan as a passer and doesn’t run up against guys hoping to win with athletics. The use of Thomas’ hand has come a long way. Could this be attributed to its competition? Sure, but he’s beaten Laken Tomlinson on several occasions, which isn’t easy. Thomas made three tackles in the backfield during the tag team times and also had a save near the line of scrimmage. Which position? 3-tech. Weird, I know.
Kerry Hyder defeated Mike McGlinchey in the second tag team practice set for a potential sack. Hyder isn’t the kind of guy who’s going to win 1-on-1, but he’s going to be part of the roster because he’s the type of “stable Eddie” player every defensive line needs.
The use of Kinlaw’s hand must be refined. He’s trying to push everyone around and make the guys back down. It won’t work in the NFL. You could sense Kinlaw’s frustration from his body language. He wasn’t winning, and it showed. Kinlaw has aligned as a technique, where there remains a large anchor.
Linebacker
In Solly was the player of the day, Kwon Alexander was not too far behind. Alexander made a flurry of games to end the practice. He had a big hit in the backfield that made him chew up the offense. He was on men’s cover against Kendrick Bourne, who was making a deep turn in the next game. Alexander played the course wonderfully, circled the head and knocked down the pass. Celebrations followed.
Cornerback
If I had to classify the best players during the tests: Thomas, Kwon and Emmanuel Moseley. The offense attempted to hit Aiyuk on two routes, but Moseley, according to media coverage, jogged and contested both shots. Moseley does a great job of pinning it wide on the sideline so there’s no room for him to play. Moseley also understands how to play sticks. On a third try, he raced Pettis’ return for him.
Ahkello Witherspoon was much better on Sunday, and that’s probably due to the end of practice on Saturday. Witherspoon was breathtaking with attacking, jumping lanes and looked like the player who started the 2019 season.
Jason Verrett is still a bit shy about skipping roads. That’s the biggest difference between him and Moseley, and that’s why I’m giving Moseley a head start in the cornerback competition. Verrett had a nice pass break on Poindexter.
Security
I would like to be able to record what the safeties look like during team exercises. If so, we wouldn’t even be discussing bringing in Earl Thomas. The 49ers perform that type of return play that isolates a receiver, and Jimmie Ward showed the type of reach Thomas is praised for and broke the pass. He had to cover 15 meters when the ball was in the air.
Underneath, Jaquiski Tartt had a nice pass break where he read Garoppolo’s eyes, got to the apartment and performed a play. Tartt was beaten on a route by Woerner, but I would give Woerner credit.
