With more talent, and good health, veteran Joe Staley sets goal for the 49ers

The 49ers have gone through a week of training camp and one theme has emerged rather quickly: Expectations are rising rapidly after finishing 4-12 in 2018.

“I think guys are feeling that,” Joe Staley told The Bee. “I think it’s good.”

There’s no more forthright player on San Francisco’s roster than the veteran left tackle, who has played on Super Bowl-caliber teams and others that landed top-five draft picks. This year, the 49ers are coming off a campaign in which they earned the No. 2 overall choice, generally a sign of a club needing a massive reconstruction.

Yet Staley’s team has lifted expectations because the roster doesn’t resemble a cellar dweller. The failures last fall could be mostly attributed to losing franchise quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo to a season-ending knee injury in the third game.

After a week of competitive practices, with Garoppolo back and looking healthy, Staley’s goal for the team is clear:

“I think we got to go to the playoffs,” Staley said. “From there, I don’t know. We’ll see what happens.”

A commonality from two-plus years of the Kyle Shanahan/John Lynch regime has been positive morale. The roster-wide rebuild led to a shift in culture. The overall mood in Santa Clara has been better than previous eras, which were largely defined by turmoil behind the scenes.

But, as Staley knows and a 10-22 record the past two seasons proves, good morale doesn’t lead to victories on its own. It takes talent, cohesion and executing at critical times to play winning football.

“We have expectations for a lot of different guys, and a lot of different guys have proven to be very successful in the NFL,” Staley said. “And so now it’s about putting it together, and I’m excited.”

The 49ers entered 2019 with questions about a defense that set an NFL record in futility with just two interceptions last season. They believe those have been answered with the addition of pass rushers Dee Ford and first-round pick Nick Bosa, who’s off to a promising start, along with the development of other young players such as second-year linebacker Fred Warner, whom Staley mentioned specifically.

“He’s going to be absolutely unbelievable. His intelligence, the way he plays the game, the speed,” Staley said. “His career is just going to take off.”

Staley was tepid in making a comparison about this year’s team to when Jim Harbaugh took over as coach in 2011 and launched the first of three straight deep runs into the postseason. But Staley thinks the roster is in similar shape, though perhaps the biggest question could be availability, particularly after injuries were so prominent the past two seasons.

“Obviously, we had a ton of talent, but that talent stayed on the field (during the Harbaugh years),” Staley said. “I think that’s what’s been exciting about camp so far, is we’ve had no (significant) injuries to speak of. Guys have nicks and stuff, but we’ve had nothing like the last few years that we’ve dealt with in training camp.”

To date, the most notable training camp injury is Ford’s knee tendinitis. He received platelet-rich plasma injections this week, and the team is confident treatment and time off will ensure he’s 100 percent for the start of the regular season. He’s expected to miss a week, which means he could return for joint practices with the Denver Broncos on Aug. 16 and 17.

Otherwise, the new-look training staff has kept the most important players on the field, like Garoppolo and Bosa, who each only appeared in three games last season and will need to play definitive roles if the 49ers want to end their five-year playoff drought.

Sunday was one of the 49ers’ most competitive practices. Garoppolo looked sharp, orchestrating a two-minute drive to set up a winning field goal as time expired. He hit fullback Kyle Juszczyk on a nifty wheel route for a big gain and connected with tight end George Kittle and Trent Taylor on passes in traffic.

But, as is customary early in camp, the defense has also had its bright spots.

The linebackers, led by Warner and newcomer Kwon Alexander, have played well against the run and pass. Rookie fifth-round pick Dre Greenlaw has the makings of a potential starter. Cornerback Richard Sherman seems far more healthy and spry than last season, when his Achilles injury was more fresh. And Jason Verrett appears to have more in the tank amid all the questions about his lengthy injury history.

Shanahan has taken notice of the increased level of competition and the way it has impacted expectations for the new season.

“I think you always want to think to win now. I want to be careful with those words and stuff, but I think we think that because we feel a lot more confident going into this year,” Shanahan said. “Not just because it’s year three and that’s what we’re supposed to say because of the people. Our players can tell when they’re in line and they’re looking at the guys in front of them and behind them. There’s a lot more competition ... from this year compared to last year. We’re better, we’ve got better people out there and the guys that we have around are better. We’ve got to keep them healthy.”

If the 49ers can do that, perhaps Staley’s goal of returning to the postseason can be reached.