49ers Notebook: Trent Taylor dishes on ‘frustrating’ 2018, Saleh pumps brakes on Moore

The 49ers entered the 2018 offseason with high regard for slot receiver Trent Taylor, who looked like a possible steal of a fifth-round draft pick given his production with new quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo during his splashy 2017 debut.

Only Taylor didn’t live up to that billing in his second NFL season. His production was nearly cut in half, from 43 catches to 26, largely because of offseason back surgery that wound up as an underrated development among the team’s rash of injuries.

“It was a major struggle for me,” Taylor said Tuesday. “I’ve never went through like a huge injury like that ever before in my life. I never missed a game all growing up. And just to struggle like that and to not be moving the way I know that I can move was really tough.”

Taylor was one of Garoppolo’s favorite third-down targets after being acquired in the trade from the Patriots. He was lethal on slant routes, like the late third-down, 33-yard catch-and-run which essentially sealed the victory over the Bears during Garoppolo’s first start. And Taylor caught one of Garoppolo’s signature passes that year, the sidearm slingshot touchdown against the vaunted Jaguars defense.

The 49ers badly missed that version of Taylor throughout 2018 while receivers were bouncing in and out of the lineup. Pierre Garçon missed eight games with a knee injury. Marquise Goodwin never seemed right after suffering a deep quad bruise in the opener. Dante Pettis had a knee injury Week 4 and missed four games.

Taylor said he found a way to use his frustration from the 2018 season in which he was a virtual nonfactor, logging just 215 yards in 14 games.

“I kept that in the back of my head all throughout the offseason, and put in all the work that I possibly could. And we’ll see what happens when the season gets here,” he said.

The back surgery prevented Taylor (5-8, 180) from building strength in his legs, which are the foundation for his quickness and change-of-direction skills that are paramount for a slot receiver.

“Whenever a guy my size doesn’t have an offseason to train and get ready for an NFL season, it’s tough to do it,” said Taylor. “I’m not Julio Jones, who can just go walk out there and make stuff happen. So the offseason is crucial for me. I know that. And so I’m glad to have a I had this whole offseason under my belt to get work done.”

The 49ers concluded their fourth training camp practice Tuesday. One of the early takeaways from the receiving corps is Taylor looks much more like the player Garoppolo favored in crucial situations back in 2017. Taylor is healthy and giving San Francisco’s defenders fits in the middle of the field.

Said linebacker Fred Warner of Taylor: “I think that offseason, being healthy was huge for him. He looks great, I feel like we joke about how he got a speed coach in the offseason. I don’t know if he did or not. But he’s been a lot faster.”

But Taylor still thinks his chemistry with Garoppolo has some simmering to do before the two are operating at peak levels.

“Hopefully (2017) was just the start the starting point of what we’re going to continue to build off of,” he said, “and we both know we have a long ways to go between us and between him and the rest of the receivers after his (ACL) injury and my injury. So it’s definitely something that we’re really focusing on and trying to get the most out of it.”

Moore ascending in the secondary?

Second-year pro Tarvarius Moore on Tuesday worked with the starters at free safety for the first time since making the position switch from cornerback this offseason. Moore played safety at Southern Miss before transitioning outside to cornerback with San Francisco in 2018, to mixed results.

Moore received positive reviews after making his switch during the spring program, but coordinator Robert Saleh tempered expectations surrounding the 22-year-old, even after the first-string defense limited Garoppolo to 5 of 14 completions during the practice session with Moore mostly playing deep.

“Just want a little more, not versatility, but making sure that guys are getting the looks they need, getting the work that they need to be able to get better,” Saleh said. “As the preseason gets going or training camp gets going, we need to figure out who’s going to make this 53-man roster and giving guys different looks to see if they’re able to do it is very important.”

Moore may have an opportunity to win the starting job if he continues to ascend, given the lengthy injury history of expected starter Jimmie Ward, who was activated off the physically unable to perform list Tuesday, and the inconsistency of Adrian Colbert. Or, perhaps the 49ers want to cross train Moore at safety so he could play both safety and cornerback if injuries force him into games.

For now, there’s no plan to move Moore back to cornerback, Saleh said.

“He’s been progressively getting better,” said Saleh. “He’s by no means even close to being an NFL-ready safety by Week 1, but he is getting progressively better. He’s got a lot of things to clean up with regards to, he’s hesitating, which is expected. He’s still new at the position, but he’s got to get to the point where he’s not really thinking about his job anymore where he can react and trigger, which is so important for our safety to be able to do.”

Warner bringing more thump to his game

While his teammates greeted fans and signed autographs after Tuesday’s practice, Warner hit the tackling bag to work on his form. Tackling with more force is mandate for the team’s starting middle linebacker entering his second season, ordered by Saleh after Warner’s impressive rookie year.

Saleh wanted Warner tackling ball carries and making them fall backwards, instead of forwards for more yardage. Warner, after all, is known more for his intelligence and athleticism at 236 than being a bruising hitter.

“It’s kind of something where you just got to work on that every single day, and into the season working on it,” he said. “Getting on the bag and practicing good technique in practice, practice good tracking angles. I’ve put a couple pounds on since last season, so I think that’ll help too. But at the end of the day, it’s just a mindset.”

Warner sat out a bulk of the offseason program recovering from minor knee surgery. He appears fully healthy and hasn’t been limited since camp began.

This story was originally published July 30, 2019 at 4:34 PM.