The 49ers had a long, eventful day of work on Day 6 of training camp.
The San Francisco 49ers wrapped up Day 6 of training camp on Tuesday, which was their second day of pads and ultimately the best day of practice so far.
After a ramp-up day to begin pads on Monday, the 49ers went an extra period for a practice that trickled a little over two hours long, with a ton of team drills that saw the offense and defense go at it.
Here are three quick takeaways from Day 6 of the 49ers training camp.
Offense stellar early
It was a rough day for the offense on Monday, as they couldn’t establish any identity, be it in the regular periods or during the red zone drills.
Running back Christian McCaffrey, tight end George Kittle, and several members of the starting offensive line were out, leading to a recipe for struggles on Monday, as the front five couldn’t hold up in protection on a consistent basis.
On Tuesday, McCaffrey, Kittle, and center Jake Brendel returned to practice and the results were drastically different to begin.
With essentially the full offense against the full defense, it was set to be a battle, and the offense won out early.
Jordan Mason and Christian McCaffrey began the first team period with good runs to either side behind good blocking, starting a strong day for the running backs.
But, the fireworks started with the second-team offense where first-round pick Ricky Pearsall got his first catch of training camp, reaching behind him and adjusting well to make a grab over the middle after getting open.
Back with the top offense, Brock Purdy began to cook early, as he converted his first deep ball of training camp, hitting Deebo Samuel in stride on a 40-yard dime after the wideout beat Isaac Yiadom on a go-route. Ji’Ayir Brown was converging in coverage, but the ball was well placed for an explosive play.
On his next series, Purdy strung together a number of completions in a row, initially hitting Samuel on a curl with good timing, as Fred Warner was closing in. Then, he found George Kittle on an out-route before making one of the plays of the day, where Purdy rolled out to his left and had a nice touch pass over DeVondre Campbell to Christian McCaffrey on the run that may have ended in a touchdown.
The run game was especially clicking early, as McCaffrey, Jordan Mason, and Elijah Mitchell all looked really fresh, working behind a good offensive line on Tuesday that opened up holes on the edges and up the middle for nice gains on the ground.
With both sides of the ball at full strength, it was good to see the offense come around and consistently move the ball on Day 2 of pads to begin practice.
Defense strikes back
Now, the offense had a strong start to the day with the first team period. But, that doesn’t mean that the defense didn’t get their fair share of the pie.
After regrouping for the second team period, the defense began to shine and make a number of plays in the passing game.
It started with the first group of plays, when cornerback Darrell Luter covered wideout Terique Owens well on an intermediate in-breaking route that ended with an incompletion with the third-team defense.
Then, on the next series, Brock Purdy had his first poor decision, scanning the field and looking for Malik Turner over the middle after going through his progressions. However, it was a forced ball, as linebacker Fred Warner came flying through the middle out of nowhere, nearly intercepting the pass.
On Purdy’s next set of plays, the 49ers had a great play design to free open fullback Kyle Juszczyk down the sidelines for a nice gain, but Purdy was a little late throwing the ball and also kept the pass away from the sideline, which allowed cornerback Deommodore Lenoir to break back into the play and break up the pass.
This was an interesting play, as Purdy likely would’ve gotten a big gain had he thrown it a tad sooner, but it also seemed that Juszczyk could’ve made a better attempt to go towards the ball, rather than allow Lenoir to jump the space. Ultimately, it ended as an incompletion.
Two plays later, Purdy looked for Jauan Jennings on an out-route, but Rock Ya-Sin was sticky in coverage and the slot receiver couldn’t gain much separation. Still, Purdy made the risky decision to throw the ball, which came a tad late, and Ya-Sin broke the pass up.
On his next series of plays, the struggles continued a bit for Purdy, as he was sacked by Leonard Floyd on the first play, which prompted him to then just throw the ball, which ended behind his intended target and into the hands of Ji’Ayir Brown for an interception.
On the next throw came Purdy’s worst decision of the day, as he threw an ugly pick over the middle to Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles, which was intended for Malik Turner, but not possible to complete with the linebacker standing there.
After a short completion to Kyle Juszczyk on the following series, Purdy once again had an interception. He initially looked the direction of Deebo Samuel, who slipped on an out-route, prompting Purdy to go deep for Jauan Jennings on a 50/50 ball. Jennings had his hands on the ball looking to high-point the pass, but couldn’t corral it in and George Odum got the interception on the tip.
Then, to end his day, Purdy had another poor decision, as he was picked off by Deommodore Lenoir looking late on an out-route. He was stumped on the pick, however, by a bull-rushing Javon Hargrave, who easily beat Aaron Banks. Hargrave pushed Banks into Purdy as the quarterback threw the ball, disrupting the pass.
Ultimately, the defense got the better end of the second half, forcing a number of interceptions, with Josh Dobbs also throwing one to end practice that Ambry Thomas caught.
But, with the way the offense was cooking to begin, it was an even-sided practice that had a lot of activity on both sides.
And, while it may seem with the interceptions that Brock Purdy had a bad day, it honestly felt like a solid day for the quarterback, given his dominant success early and the nature of some of the interceptions. But, the 49ers are definitely going to want to clean up those mistakes as they head into the season.
1-on-1s return
The 49ers brought back 1-on-1s for the first time this camp, and I mainly focused on the offensive line versus defensive line reps with pads on. Here are some of the notable takeaways.
Overall, I thought the offensive line held up very well in this drill, given the expectations and personnel on both sides, with certain players standing out.
Nick Bosa didn’t win either of his reps, working against tackles Colton McKivitz and Jaylon Moore, which seemed to frustrate him after the fact. The Moore rep was more even as Bosa slowly pushed the offensive lineman back, but it was two strong reps by the tackle duo against a top-tier pass rusher.
Moore also saw success, winning another rep against Leonard Floyd on a successful day for the left tackle.
Javon Hargrave continued to dominate, easily winning both of his reps against Aaron Banks with bull-rushes. Banks has been extremely susceptible to bull-rushes and has looked shaky to begin camp. On the flip side, Hargrave has looked in shape and primed for a bounce back season.
With the second-team players, Yetur Gross-Matos had a nice win, beating Chris Hubbard with a swim move to get inside and to the backfield. On the other hand, Brandon Parker won his rep against Leonard Floyd, furthering a successful day for the offensive line. Parker also won his rep against Gross-Matos.
Rookie Dominick Puni had two reps, losing the first, but bouncing back and holding up against T.Y. McGill on the second rep. He’s starting to look the part at right guard, continuing to work with the top offensive line.
Lastly, I liked what I saw from backup center Ben Bartch. He was lined up against Evan Anderson and Kevin Givens on separate reps, and held up at center in both 1-on-1s.
Overall, as I said, it was a good day for the offensive line, both during 1-on-1s and team drills, which is a positive sign for the rest of camp.
Stay tuned for my full notes and observations of Day 6 coming later!