SANTA CLARA –
Today was the lightest practice of training camp, and here’s what I mean by light.
Harbaugh ended the practice at 4:55 today, 35 minutes earlier than usual because “the tempo was so good,” as he explained afterwards.
At no point did the first-team offense play against the first-team defense in 11-on-11 drills. Alex Smith and the first-unit took a ton of red zone reps against the third-team defense, and Smith must have thrown at least five touchdown passes. Taylor Mays and the third-team defense just couldn’t stop him.
The dominant image of the day was Frank Gore running past the defense and into the end zone. He did this on almost every handoff. “Way to go, 21!” was a popular refrain from the coaches.
Colin Kaepernick struggled to secure the snap. Sometimes when he takes a snap from under center, the ball just squirts through his hands. It’s happened on-and-off all training camp, and it’s something to watch for in Friday’s first preseason game against the Saints.
THE GOOD
- Delanie Walker was on the receiving end of a few Alex-Smith touchdown passes.
- Carlos Rogers sacked Alex Smith on a corner blitz. Rogers also picked off Jeremiah Masoli once.
- Chris Culliver played on the first team defense and looked good. He stood out more than fellow rookie Aldon Smith, who played mostly on the second team.
THE NOT-SO-GOOD
- Jeremiah Masoli really struggled playing against the first-team defense, throwing one interception and many incompletions.
- Kevin Jurovich dropped some passes and got chewed out by the coaches on one play in particular. Jurovich dove and missed a pass that was low, and he lingered on the ground, face down, for a couple seconds, which was a couple seconds too long for the coaches.
The Niners have a walk-through tomorrow morning from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. which is closed to the media, but players will be available to talk afterwards. Then they’ll fly to New Orleans to play the Saints on Friday.
Follow me on twitter @grantcohn.
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