49ers 41, Chargers 6: Grades

Here are my grades for the 49ers in their 41-6 preseason win over the San Diego Chargers. QUARTERBACKS: B+. Colin Kaepernick completed three short passes and then left the game. Colt McCoy was decent, completing 8-of-15 passes for 56 yards and a touchdown.  His longest completion was a 12-yarder. B.J. Daniels played well, better than McCoy. Daniels completed 5-of-9 passes for 76 yards and a touchdown, and he ran 6…

August 29, 2013
Read More >>

Harbaugh says he “believes” Patrick Willis will start Week 1 against the Packers

SANTA CLARA — Jim Harbaugh spoke in the media tent Tuesday afternoon. Here’s what he said, courtesy of the 49ers.   Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio was telling me that you guys decided on S Eric Reid as the starting safety. What has he shown you to earn that role heading into the regular season? “Just everything we talked about, he’s been good. He’s shown that he’s picked up the system…

August 27, 2013
Read More >>

Harbaugh on A.J. Jenkins: “I don’t think it’s fair to bully or label a young player.”

SANTA CLARA – Jim Harbaugh spoke in the media tent Wednesday afternoon. Here’s what he said. Q: Jon Baldwin practiced yesterday. What was your initial reaction to him and how he’s fitting in? HARBAUGH: Just one day, but good so far. Q: Can you tell what skills he has and how he could potentially fit into your offense? HARBAUGH: I think most people can. He’s somebody with great athletic ability….

August 21, 2013
Read More >>

Roman says Baldwin has a “great catch radius.”

SANTA CLARA — Greg Roman spoke in the media tent Tuesday morning. Here’s what he said, courtesy of the 49ers.   Opening comments: “Good morning. We’re working, guys are working hard. That’s what training camp’s all about. I think we’re very fortunate to have some really good leadership on offense. I think [WR] Anquan Boldin is a guy that’s done nothing but impressed since day one with how he approaches…

August 20, 2013
Read More >>

Harbaugh on Kaepernick’s lack of playing time: “I didn’t want anything freakish to happen.”

SANTA CLARA – Jim Harbaugh spoke in the media tent Sunday morning. Here’s what he said. Q: What is the complexion of practices these final two weeks of the exhibition season? Will you still do some ones against ones, or will it be mostly scout team work? HARBAUGH: It will not change very much. It will still be one versus one, two versus two, one versus two, two versus one,…

August 18, 2013
Read More >>

Meaningless exhibition? Not when you know what to watch

Here is my preview of the 49ers-Chiefs preseason game. Five things to watch in the 49ers’ preseason game against the Chiefs Friday night: 1. Colin Kaepernick in the red zone. Kaepernick has something to prove here. As terrific as he’s played in his brief career, he needs to improve his passing in the red zone. Last season, his red zone passer rating was 83.9, nothing special. Compare that to Alex Smith…

August 15, 2013
Read More >>

Training camp report: Another big practice for Collie, Gray

SANTA CLARA – Here’s what stood out to me during Thursday evening’s light, non-padded practice. THE GOOD 1. MarQueis Gray – He had a monster practice for the second day in a row. Today, he caught five passes for 80 yards and two touchdowns. He hasn’t dropped a pass all week. He may earn a spot on the 53-man roster. 2. Vernon Davis – He caught five passes for 70…

August 14, 2013
Read More >>

Training camp report: Harbaugh breaks up fight

SANTA CLARA – The 49ers practiced in shorts and shells Tuesday evening in preparation for Friday night’s preseason game against the Chiefs. Here’s what stood out to me during the evening practice. THE GOOD 1. MarQueis Gray – He made two jaw-dropping catches during 11-on-11 team drills. First, he ran a seam route down the middle of the field. Tolzien threw it up for Gray. Gray jumped, twisted and caught…

August 13, 2013
Read More >>

Training camp report: Jenkins shut out, Brown moves to nickelback

SANTA CLARA – Here’s what stood out to me during Monday afternoon’s padded practice. THE GOOD 1. Tarell Brown – He returned to practice after missing the last two and was the starting nickelback in place of Carlos Rogers. Brown gave up just one catch while playing nickelback – a 15-yard completion to Austin Collie. 2. Aldon Smith –He sat out for an hour during the middle portion of team…

August 12, 2013
Read More >>

Training camp report: Kaepernick improves in the red zone

SANTA CLARA – Here’s what stood out to me at Sunday afternoon’s padded practice. THE GOOD 1. Colin Kaepernick – He was on fire today. He couldn’t miss the deep passes, he had touch on his shorter throws and he scored twice in the red zone. First, he threw a touchdown pass to Chad Hall in the back of the end zone. Next, Kaepernick threw a TD pass to Frank…

August 11, 2013
Read More >>

Roman on Jenkins: “I think A.J. does a lot of really good things.”

SANTA CLARA – Greg Roman spoke in the 49ers’ media tent Sunday morning. Here’s what he said. ROMAN: Welcome. We’re entering our second preseason week. Guys are working real hard. We’re working through a lot of different situational stuff, base stuff. We’ve got the Kansas City Chiefs in our second preseason game, so it’s another great chance to get out and evaluate what we’re doing and what we’ve got. Guys…

August 11, 2013
Read More >>

Training camp report: Huge day for Lockette and the L-Train

SANTA CLARA – Here is what stood out to me at Tuesday evening’s light, padless practice in which the first-team offense and first-team defense only faced the scout teams. THE GOOD 1. Ricardo Lockette – He had an outstanding practice. He lined up primarily at split end with the scout-team offense, meaning he faced Tarell Brown a lot. Lockette beat Brown for two touchdowns – one was a 20-yard catch…

August 6, 2013
Read More >>

Greg Roman on Austin Collie: “There’s a good plan in place to incrementally advance him.”

SANTA CLARA – Greg Roman spoke in the media tent Monday morning. Here’s what he said, courtesy of the 49ers.   Opening comments: “Good morning. First game week of the season. Very exciting, it’s a chance to get with our young players and start to prepare for a game. As we all well know, there are 16 regular season games and every week is really a season onto itself. The…

August 5, 2013
Read More >>

Training camp report: Justin Smith and Tarell Brown sidelined, Mike Iupati dodges bullet

SANTA CLARA – Here’s what stood out to me at Friday evening’s padded practice. THE GOOD 1. Vernon Davis – Today was his best practice of the offseason. He was a dominant pass catcher at tight end, in the slot, at split end and at flanker. As an outside receiver, he beat cornerbacks on single and double moves with efficient footwork three or four times. He also blew past Perrish…

August 2, 2013
Read More >>

Harbaugh praises lots of players, including Kaepernick, McDonald and Patton.

SANTA CLARA – Here’s what Jim Harbaugh said after practice Thursday afternoon. Q: You ended practice early. Why? HARBAUGH: I really liked the practice today and the entire offseason. It was a great effort by our team. I like our team. I like where we’re at right now. It was a good camp. Q: It seemed like Colin Kaepernick and the first team offense really ended practice with a flourish….

June 13, 2013
Read More >>

Austin Collie works out for 49ers Thursday

USA Today just reported 27-year-old wide receiver Austin Collie is working out for the 49ers Thursday. Collie (6-1, 200 pounds) started his career with the Indianapolis Colts and caught 172 passes for 1,839 yards and 16 TDs his first three seasons in the league. But he only played one game in 2012 due to a ruptured patella tendon and concussions. He was medically cleared to play football on Tuesday. If…

June 13, 2013
Read More >>