The San Francisco 49ers' plan has always been to have quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo do some throwing and non-contact work during organized team activities (OTAs), which kicked off on Monday. That is exactly what happened, according to Omar Ruiz of NFL Network.
Ruiz is at the team's facilities to watch today's afternoon practice, which is open to reporters, and provided an update on Monday's session. As expected, Garoppolo participated in the first of three practices this week while wearing his knee brace on his left leg. The quarterback continues to rehab the torn ACL he suffered in late September.
"He did the individual work, did his position work, did not do the 11-on-11 team drills, as expected," Ruiz said.
It is important to note that Ruiz means Garoppolo was not expected to do 11-on-11 team drills, and not that he was expected to take part but sat them out. Backups Nick Mullens and C.J. Beathard received the majority of the snaps during those drills.
Garoppolo's involvement at the start of OTAs is a good sign in his rehab progress. The 49ers hope to have their franchise quarterback medically cleared to take part in training camp in late July and ready to start Week 1 of the regular season.
Ruiz states that Garoppolo is expected to speak to the media today following head coach Kyle Shanahan's press conference, which is scheduled for about 2 p.m. PT or whenever practice is complete.
While Garoppolo is getting a good amount of work this week, the 49ers are being more cautious with running back Jerick McKinnon. Again, that was expected because of the position he plays.
McKinnon, also rehabbing a torn ACL suffered about three weeks before Garoppolo's, relies on running and cutting to excel at his position. Those are two things the training staff doesn't want McKinnon doing right now, even during non-contact drills.
"From what I was told, he did not do as much in practice yesterday, OTA practice number one, because so much of his work involves lateral movement, and because this is May," Ruiz said. "It is OTAs. No need to test that knee at this point in the (off)season, especially when you consider the depth that the 49ers have at running back with Tevin Coleman now here, Matt Breida certainly still in the mix."
