Hutchinson: 49ers Practice Notes: Highs and lows for QBs in short practice
“Marcelino-McCrary Ball has been impressive, perhaps the most exciting linebacker outside of Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw. He opened the day by stuffing Ty Davis-Price at the line of scrimmage and has flashed substantial range and athleticism. There’s a lot of intriguing names in the linebacker group, with Oren Burks a pretty steady presence, Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles a favored special teamer, and a host of young names fighting for spots like Curtis Robinson, Dee Winters, Kyahva Tezino and Jalen Graham.
The tight end room is confounding. Woerner and Ross Dwelley get praised for knowing the team’s system because Woerner has shown himself to be an unreliable receiver and Dwelley and unreliable blocker, without either having traits that warrant them being on the field next to George Kittle. Brayden Willis has found substantially more targets than Cam Latu, who made a rare catch on Thursday, but Willis has looked like he’s still finding his footing, too. Kyle Shanahan didn’t exactly rave about either.”
Maiocco’s 49ers camp observations: Purdy has sharpest practice
“Purdy delivered a well-thrown ball 20 yards down the field to Brandon Aiyuk on an in-breaking route Thursday early in practice. He delivered the ball with enough velocity to get it to Aiyuk before safety George Odum arrived...Sam Darnold and Trey Lance shared all of the other practice snaps, while fourth-stringer Brandon Allen did not take any snaps during 11-on-11 drills.
Darnold had 14 practice snaps and completed six of eight pass attempts, while Lance had 13 reps and was 5-for-8.
Darnold had a nice 22-yard throw to second-year receiver Danny Gray, who is putting together a consistent camp.
Lance had the best throw of the day, a well-timed deep out to wide receiver Tay Martin. He also threw the only interception of the day when he tried to fit in a ball over the middle. Rookie linebacker Dee Winters made the interception. That was a play on which Lance should have checked it down, Shanahan said.”
Barrows: 49ers’ Kyle Shanahan not worried about Brock Purdy’s elbow … with one exception (paywall)
“Shanahan said he used to roll his eyes at head coaches who constantly emphasized not hitting the quarterback and who chided defenders for taking their opponents to the ground. Now he says it’s his most common meeting room refrain.
“That’s all we talk about,” he said. “That’s what killed Trey (Lance) his first two years — it was hitting his finger on a helmet and breaking it, and that messed him up for about a year and a half.”
None of the quarterbacks stood out in Thursday’s session. Purdy was 7-of-10, with most of the completions coming on short throws to running backs”
“Lance was the only quarterback today who completed a long pass near the sideline — he hit Tay Martin running a deep route on the right side. Lance throws that particular pass with such confidence this offseason. But he also threw a short pass behind Brayden Willis, tossed an ugly interception while the other two quarterbacks protected the football and picked up zero first downs during the move-the-ball period.”
49ers assistants on their QBs, D’Shawn Jamison and Christian McCaffrey’s impact (paywall)
“Lynn says that very little has changed about Turner’s coaching style over the years. The 74-year-old coach still works tirelessly in the pre-draft evaluation process and still demands that his running backs sprint toward the end zone after every single snap at practice — even if it’s stopped for a minimal gain.
“Finish — he’s always done that with his backs,” Lynn said of Turner. “You hit the ground, the ground’s hot. Get your ass up and finish.”
“Head coach Kyle Shanahan and several players spoke to reporters after Thursday’s practice. Below are some key topics discussed.”
49ers sign former Raiders, Ravens corner, add veteran DB to injured reserve
“In his place, the team added another veteran, Anthony Averett.
The Alabama product was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in the fourth round (118th overall) back in 2018.
He played out the entirety of his four-year rookie deal in Baltimore, starting all 14 games he played in in 2021 before signing with the Raiders the following offseason.
Averett dealt with some injuries in 2022, playing just six games after dealing with a fractured thumb at the start of the year and a toe injury at the end of the season.”
