49ers Practice recap: Kendrick Bourne shines as red zone drills highlight Thursday
The 49ers on Thursday returned to the practice field after having their first day off Wednesday since training camp began. The team is midway through the re-installation of Kyle Shanahan’s offense and held red zone drills for the first time since the pads came on earlier in this week.
Here are some observations from the sidelines in Santa Clara.
Thursday’s standouts
Kendrick Bourne’s roster spot was challenged this offseason when the 49ers added two receivers in the NFL draft, Deebo Samuel and Jalen Hurd, and signed free agent Jordan Matthews, the former second-round draft pick of the Eagles. It was made clear Bourne would need a strong showing in training camp to stick with the team that signed him as an undrafted rookie in 2017.
Bourne’s had a strong camp to date. But his best showing came Thursday. He caught three touchdown passes during one-on-one red zone drills – one from Jimmy Garoppolo and two from Nick Mullens – and added two more during the full-team period. The first was a roughly 20-yard catch along the far sideline from Garoppolo. The other was a tough slant route in traffic. Bourne has good chemistry with the franchise quarterback.
Bourne’s day wasn’t spotless, however. He dropped a would-be touchdown from C.J. Beathard in the back of the end zone during the full-team period after beating his coverage to the back pylon. It was an easy catch that slipped between his hands – and one he normally makes.
The 49ers were without star defensive tackle DeForest Buckner because of a toe injury, so Sheldon Day had the opportunity to play the “3 technique” with the starters for most of the session. Day was disruptive and is regularly overlooked when the team’s talented defensive line gets talked about. He had a sack of Garoppolo during the red zone period. But because Day couldn’t actually sack him, Garoppolo scrambled up the middle for a short touchdown score.
Day seems poised to be the team’s most-used nose tackle in the regular season while D.J. Jones has worked mostly with the reserves. Day also provides more juice as a pass rusher than the typical run-stuffers that line up over center. Day should see plenty of playing time along the crowded interior.
The 49ers spent a significant portion of practice working on punt coverage. That allowed rookie fourth-round pick Mitch Wishnowski to show off his leg. His punts were generally far and hung in the air between 4.3 and 5.12 seconds, according to a timer on a smart phone. He even appeared to show off his own version of a knuckle punt, which barely spun, that Dante Pettis dropped while trying to catch it. Wishnowsky has also been good at punting to the corners.
Key Moment
Garoppolo hasn’t been in pads trying to score touchdowns since his last game in September when he suffered his torn ACL in Kansas City, but he was given that opportunity Thursday. The key moment of the practice came on back-to-back snaps when he found Pettis for a score on a slant route in the back of the end zone.
The next snap, tight end George Kittle found a soft spot in the zone between linebacker Dre Greenlaw and a defensive back, turned around and was hit by Garoppolo for a short touchdown. Ross Dwelley, a backup tight end, made a nice sliding catch between the linebackers and safeties, scoring a touchdown on a toss from Nick Mullens, who did well to locate Dwelley in a tight window.
Garoppolo watch
The franchise signal-caller bounced back from his 5-for-14 showing Tuesday to complete 10 of 14 throws during full-team drills, including 5 of 6 in the red zone with two touchdowns. Many of his completions were of the check-down variety, but he also found targets downfield, including Bourne, Samuel and Jordan Matthews over the middle.
But Garoppolo’s best throw might have been during the individual red-zone session, when he lofted a well-placed touch pass toward the back right pylon of the end zone. Pettis, who ran a double route against Richard Sherman, was able to haul in the throw and keep his feet in bounds, which appeared to frustrate Sherman.
Sherman had easily his best practice of camp Tuesday before the day off. Pettis was good Thursday as he showed off his ability to separate from coverage in confined spaces.
Coaches thoughts
Shanahan on Wishowsky: “Looks like it’s going pretty high. I don’t have a clock out there, but it looked like the hang time was pretty good and he’s been doing a good job. We like the guy. He’s fitting in great, even being an Aussie. Guys are getting used to it and he’s a funny dude. He’s been good to have at practice.”
