SANTA CLARA – Here’s what I saw from the wide receivers at Monday’s practice:
A.J. Jenkins played better – he caught four of the five passes thrown his way. In one-on-one drills, he lined up twice against undrafted rookie Anthony Mosley (from the University of Kentucky). The first time, Jenkins ran an intermediate route and telegraphed his cut. Mosley jumped the route and batted the pass away. In the second battle, Mosley gave Jenkins about a 10-yard cushion off the line of scrimmage and Jenkins made him pay with a quick catch for a very short gain.
In team drills, Jenkins caught two more very short passes, one in front of Tramaine Brock on the outside and the other in front of Patrick Willis in the slot. Jenkins also made a nice catch downfield. He was wide open because the defense was playing zone and the free safety – undrafted Michael Thomas from Stanford – was a little late to break on the play, so Jenkins caught the ball right in front of him.
Ted Ginn Jr. had a great day, catching six passes including two deep touchdowns. He’s caught almost everything so far in training camp.
Randy Moss had an even better day, catching seven passes. He beat Carlos Rogers twice in one-on-one drills – once deep for a touchdown. Moss looked like the best wide receiver on the field today.
Kyle Williams caught five of six passes, highlighted by a deep catch down the sideline.
Standout undrafted rookie Nathan Palmer caught just one of three passes, but he played well. He started the day by beating Chris Culliver in a one-on-one drill for a short gain. Later in the same drill, Palmer beat Culliver on a double move deep down the middle of field, creating about five yards of separation. Culliver tried to recover as quickly as he could, but he was too aggressive and he hit Palmer before the pass arrived. Later on in team drills, Palmer beat Culliver one more time on a short route along the sideline, but he couldn’t keep his second foot inbounds.
Mario Manningham did not participate in team drills for an unknown reason.
Michael Crabtree was not present. Joe Hastings was, but he did not participate. Those two are nursing unconfirmed injuries.
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