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…
SAN FRANCISCO – Here are my grades for the 49ers in their 34-14 preseason win over the Minnesota Vikings. QUARTERBACKS: B. Colin Kaepernick played 17 snaps and played well, although he failed in his first appearance in the red zone, getting his pass tipped away on third-and-11 from the 12 yard line. But Kaepernick succeeded in his second red zone appearance. On third-and-goal from the five, Kaepernick rolled right, spotted…
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…
SANTA CLARA – Here’s what stood out to me at Sunday’s padded practice. THE GOOD 1. Eric Reid – He was the best free safety on the field by far. In 11-on-11 team drills, Reid knocked away a Kaepernick pass intended for Anquan Boldin running a slant. Also, Reid intercepted a Scott Tolzien pass intended for Garrett Celek. During individual drills, Ed Donatell had the safeties practice single-high coverage, having…
SANTA CLARA – With 20 minutes remaining in practice, Jim Harbaugh set up a fourth down drill: Fourth and five from the opponent’s 20-yard line, the edge of the red zone. The offense had one chance to make a first down or a touchdown. The first-team offense faced the first-team defense and right away, Ahmad Brooks jumped offside like he did in the Super Bowl. The 49ers replayed the down…
SANTA CLARA – Vic Fangio spoke to Bay Area reporters Friday morning. Here’s what he said. Q: How does it feel to start training camp and have everyone back? FANGIO: It’s good. All offseason we didn’t have Ahmad, Justin and Aldon out there. It was limited what Ray did, so it’s nice to have them all back out there playing real football, although we don’t have the pads on. We…
SANTA CLARA – Here is what stood out to me at Day 3 of the 49ers’ mini-camp. If you have questions about anything else that happened at practice, ask me in the comment section. THE GOOD 1. Colin Kaepernick – He hadn’t done anything spectacular this offseason until this afternoon. He’d been mostly dinking and dunking. Colt McCoy had been more aggressive throwing downfield. Alex Smith had been more aggressive…
SANTA CLARA — Here’s what Vic Fangio said Wednesday afternoon, courtesy of the 49ers. So, offensive coordinator Greg Roman had said yesterday, obviously he’d been through two offensive installs already and it was more for him about execution. What is it about for you during this mini-camp with the defense? “Well, the mini-camp is just a continuation of the OTAs where we’re installing our defense. Teaching the assignments, the…
SANTA CLARA – Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio spoke in the media tent Monday afternoon. He said he did not game plan for the Denver Broncos. He also discussed what the defense did well and not-so-well on Sunday. Here’s a transcript, courtesy of the 49ers. Is it time to push the panic button? “In regards to what? The defense. “No, not yet.” How do you take what happened yesterday?…
SAN FRANCISCO – Here are my Preseason Week One grades for the 49ers defense. Defensive line: B+. Justin Smith didn’t play. The rest of this unit allowed 4.3 yards per carry to the Vikings, which is below the Niners’ stellar standard of run defense. The standout player of this group was Demarcus Dobbs, who completely dominated the Vikings’ backup left tackle. In the second half, Minnesota had to give Dobbs…
SANTA CLARA — Despite the fact that Jim Harbaugh called A.J. Jenkins an outstanding football player before today’s practice, Jenkins was not outstanding today in practice. He struggled in the one-on-one press coverage drill against Perrish Cox and Deante Purvis. On Jenkins’ first rep, he ran deep but he forgot to look for the pass, so it dropped 10 yards away from him. On his second rep he caught a…
