Your daily San Francisco 49ers news for Sunday, July 31st, 2022
Fred Warner, 49ers defense leaving a rollicking early mark on training camp (paywall)
“I’m trying to get everybody battle-ready,” Warner said. “When you get down to it, there’s a lot of games where it comes down to one or two scores when you’re playing against a top-tier team. You may have some guys on the opposite side of the ball who are even chirpier than I am. And you want to look across and say, ‘Man, this is nothing; I’ve been going against the best all training camp,’ so now you go out there and you got extreme confidence. ‘OK. I’m ready. I’m battle-tested. Let’s go do this.’”
Cohn: The Good and Not So Good from Day 4 of Training Camp: Bounce Bay Day for Trey Lance
“Lance now has thrown an interception in three consecutive practices, which is not good. Today, he had Ray-Ray McCloud wide open running an in route 15 yards downfield and simply needed to loft the pass over Warner’s head. Instead, Lance threw the ball on a low line directly to the linebacker. That was Lance’s worst throw by far. The rest of his practice was excellent. He completed three perfect long passes to Brandon Aiyuk and one to George Kittle (more on them below). Lance also made good decisions, particularly when he pulled the ball down and scrambled instead of forcing a deep pass to a double-covered Aiyuk. So despite the interception, this was Lance’s best practice of camp so far, and he still hasn’t gotten to play with Deebo Samuel.”
Branch: 49ers’ practice report: Nate Sudfeld struggles as Jimmy Garoppolo runs and throws (paywall)
“To be clear, Sudfeld’s forgettable performance certainly wasn’t tied to the presence of Garoppolo, who emerged from the shadows to run conditioning sprints near the start of practice, have a lengthy throwing session on an adjacent field during individual drills and to mingle with players and team employees after it was over.
However, it was a reminder of the leap of faith the 49ers will officially make once they inevitably part with Garoppolo, who would be the NFL’s best (and most expensive) backup QB if he remained on the roster. Instead, barring any preseason transaction, the 49ers will roll with Sudfeld, who will be among the league’s most unproven No. 2s, with 37 pass attempts and zero starts in six seasons.”
49ers likely lose Maurice Hurst for the season, as defensive line injury list grows
“He’ll have to undergo surgery and may have an outside chance to return towards the end of the season.”
49ers LB Fred Warner explains why being irritating at practice is a good thing
“I chose him out,” Warner said. “I specifically said, and I’ll say why. I think he’s ready to make that next step into playing at an elite level, right? Ever since he’s gotten here in the last couple years, I’ve kind of gotten after him a little bit, going around the locker room and around the building because I know how much he has in him. And I know if I nag him a little bit he’s going to get sick and tired of that and kind of hold his own. And so I like what I see out of BA. He works super hard, and he’s starting to really gain that mindset of knowing that he’s the guy and he’s capable. And I’m just trying to get the best out of him. And that’s it.”
49ers QB Jimmy Garoppolo in talks with New York Giants, per source
“Even more closure around Garoppolo could be on its way soon, as Marco Martinez of the “49ers RedZone” podcast confirmed to me on Thursday that the veteran quarterback’s agent has indeed been in talks with the New York Giants, who have had themselves a bit of a quarterback dilemma after electing to bypass on Daniel Jones’s fifth-year option and signing veteran Tyrod Taylor to a two-year deal in the offseason.”
Kyle Shanahan provides important updates as 49ers close out Week 1 of training camp
“San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan spoke with reporters ahead of Saturday’s practice, the fourth of training camp. Here is everything he had to say.”
“But I just like that they’re ripping it,” Shanahan said. “What you don’t want guys to do, especially in training camp, is say, ‘I thought it was there, but I don’t want to throw a pick, so I checked it down.’ Sometimes you need to know whether it was there and the only way you do that is by letting it rip.”
This was a talking point with Patrick Mahomes in his first training camp as the Chiefs starter in 2018. He made a lot of mistakes and threw a bunch of interceptions because he was testing the boundaries of what his skill set could and could not do against NFL defenses.
CB Darqueze Dennard learned 49ers defensive playbook in one day last season
“I think when he came in for the practices, I still remember him coming in and I think he practiced like twice that week,” Hufanga said after 49ers practice on Friday. “I can’t (remember) the specifics. But I remember he came in and learned the defense overnight. It was kind of crazy. I was like, ‘How can you do this so quick and just go out on the field?’ I was like, ‘That’s what the NFL is all about.’ It’s a league that is the highest of the highest. So watching him come in and do his job like that it was pretty incredible, and it didn’t go unnoticed in our room. We definitely praised him for that, for sure.”