49ers training camp: Sherman bounces back after scare, Garoppolo picked three times in red-zone drill

Richard Sherman early during practice Wednesday appeared to get tangled up with a fellow defensive back during a routine drill that focused on taking the right angles to make tackles.

Half of the 49ers defensive backs lined up on one side of the line and the rest of the group was some 10 yards away, with one group pretending to be ball carriers the other group would wrap up.

As Sherman and his teammate ran towards each other during their rep, their feet got tangled and Sherman’s left heel was stepped on. It wasn’t the same heel in which Sherman tore his Achilles during the 2017 season with the Seattle Seahawks. That was on his right side, but he had surgery on the left heel months later as part of the heeling and recovery process.

Sherman was on the ground in obvious pain. He pulled off his helmet and gloves. His teammates gathered around, one using the moment for prayer, as a member of the training staff, general manager John Lynch, head coach Kyle Shanahan and defensive coordinator Robert Saleh slowly walked over looking concerned, hoping the team didn’t just lose another key player to injury.

Sherman turned over, began moving his left ankle and realized he wasn’t seriously hurt. He got up slowly, readjusted his shoe that had been given a flat tire, and walked it off. The player that prayed gaved Sherman a long hug. At that point, Saleh was laughing. Sherman started taking quick steps to either side, as if he were mirroring a receiver, and put his gloves back on to resume practice. Sherman’s ankle area appeared to get cleated.

“I was hoping it was nothing serious with what he was grabbing,” Saleh said in a Zoom conference with reporters afterwards. “I got a little nervous for him, but once we got over there, realized that when he talked through what he had gone through, saw there was no concern. It was more of a relief than anything.”

There was a minute where it appeared the 49ers could have lost their All-Pro corner to a serious injury the same week pass rushers Nick Bosa and Dee Ford sustained minor injuries that will likely cost them the remainder of training camp — a week after promising receiver Jalen Hurd’s season ended before it started because of an ACL tear, and days after rookie first-round pick Bradon Aiyuk tweaked his hamstring putting his status for Week 1 in jeopardy.

But Sherman was fine. He returned to team drills and authored his third interception of quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo of training camp. Sherman pounced on Garoppolo’s back-foot throw across the field toward Kendrick Bourne and would have taken it 90 plus yards for a touchdown.

“Same old Sherm,” Saleh said. “He was hobbling a little bit, but he’s fine. He just needs a little bit of rehab, a little treatment. He’ll be all right.”

Sherman’s scare was just one aspect of an eventful training camp practice on Wednesday.

Other notable happenings included: rookie defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw getting into a scuffle with offensive lineman Jared Jones-Smith plus a three-interception and three-touchdown red-zone period for Garoppolo.

Javon Kinlaw takes exception

The kerfuffle between Kinlaw and Jones-Smith happened after a play when Kinlaw had something to say to a member of the offense as it was trying to huddle. He was being pushed away be an offensive linemen until Jones-Smith came from out of nowhere and the two tumbled to the ground.

The incident happened quickly and ended quickly. Saleh was asked afterwards how he felt about the situation given some coaches like players to have a certain intensity at practice while others implore players to avoid fighting altogether.

“Those guys always get heated,” Saleh said. “I don’t look at it any other way than guys competing, as long as they understand and keep your helmet on, don’t take punches to the face. If you guys get into a little shoving match, I don’t read anything into it other than people competing. It’s one thing if it started because of one person being cheap where we’re not taking care of one another on the practice field. It’s another thing where it just gets heated because you’ve been competing your tails off with one another and it just becomes a pushing contest.”

Kinlaw’s eventful day continued later during the red zone drill when he snagged his first interception of camp after Garoppolo’s pass was batted in the air by a fellow defensive lineman. It was the second of Garoppolo’s three interceptions he threw during the drill coming a few plays after Sherman’s.

Jimmy Garoppolo throws three INTs and three TDs

Kinlaw’s play marked the second straight practice Garoppolo took every red zone rep, perhaps stealing plays from backup quarterbacks Nick Mullens and C.J. Beathard.

Garoppolo, who recently ditched his left knee brace protecting his 2018 ACL injury, took practice reps behind the reserve offensive line for the second day in a row. This summer is the first time that’s happened, at least during practices open to reporters.

The drill started with a short pass to Trent Taylor for a would-be first down inside the 10-yard line. Then Garoppolo found Tavon Austin over the middle for a score. Next came Sherman’s interception in which Garoppolo was looking for Kendrick Bourne near the right pylon with 6-foot-8 Arik Armstead in his face.

Safety Jimmie Ward broke up the following pass for Bourne while he was covering George Kittle. A few plays later, Garoppolo tried finding rookie tight end Charlie Woerner for a touchdown to his left, but second-year cornerback Tim Harris deflected the ball right to Johnathan Cyprien for his third interception of training camp since signing last week.

The next play was an outside run for Raheem Mostert, who lowered his shoulder into linebacker Fred Warner along the sideline. Warner didn’t relent, thumping last season’s NFC title game hero out of bounds. The two had words, began shoving each other and had to be separated. Warner and Mostert have had a number of big collisions during training camp.

“It’s just iron sharpens iron,” Ward said. “Them guys, they’re great friends off the football field. But, when you’re on the football field, Raheem, he wants to score and Fred, he doesn’t want him to score, doesn’t want him to get any yards after contact. So both of them just doing their job.”

Then Garoppolo responded with a touchdown pass to Bourne on a quick inside route. Warner broke up a pass to Taylor over the middle on the next snap and another pass to Austin was broken up by the defense. Garoppolo found Dante Pettis for a touchdown and then another at the goal line to Austin to end the drill. There was hooting and hollaring from the offense and the defense throughout, marking perhaps the most spirited moment of training camp to date.

Overall, Garoppolo completed 7 of 14 in the drill with three interceptions and three touchdowns. It was eerily similar to the infamous session last summer where Garoppolo was picked on five straight pass attempts. In hindsight, that practice may have revealed more about the 49ers defense that became the best in the NFL against the pass than it did about Garoppolo, who had a strong season en route to the Super Bowl.

Garoppolo on Wednesday was without his top two receivers, Deebo Samuel and Aiyuk, and Kittle was used sparingly in team drills. Suffice to say, Garoppolo is expected to have far more help once real games come along.

Deebo Samuel making progress

Speaking of Samuel, he had his most extensive workout on the side of practice with reporters present. He wore cleats and did a series of wind sprints at close to 100 percent speed and did some cutting.

The team has been mostly mum on injuries throughout camp, and Lynch has said there’s a chance Samuel misses time early in the season. But Samuel clearly has other things on his mind and is pushing to be available for Week 1.

There might be urgency to get the presumptive top receiver back in the lineup given Aiyuk, who had been excellent during practice before tweaking his hamstring, could also miss the opener against the Cardinals. Shanahan tabbed him week to week.

—The practice ended with a strong touchdown drive with the backups orchestrated by Beathard, who found rookie seventh-round pick Jauan Jennings over the middle for a touchdown.

In the same drills with the starters, Pettis made a couple of strong catches over the middle in traffic just before the final horn sounded and had another strong session overall.

—New tight end Jordan Reed was back in pads for the second straight day and again looked strong in individual drills. He beat starting strong safety Jaquiski Tartt twice to make receptions in one-on-ones.

—Fullback Kyle Juszczyk did not participate in practice. It seems likely he was given a day off for body maintenance purposes, but the team would not specify why he wasn’t in pads. He was doing light side work with Aiyuk leaving undrafted rookie Josh Hokit to get reps at fullback.

—Strong safety Marcell Harris didn’t practice, either, allowing Cyprien to get his reps during team drills.

—As expected, Bosa and Ford missed practice and spent the first half of the session in the weight room before joining their teammates to watch from the sidelines. Ford is considered day-to-day with calf irritation and Bosa is week to week with leg soreness. For now, neither injury is believed to be serious.

This story was originally published August 26, 2020 at 4:32 PM.