The San Francisco 49ers began padded training camp on Monday, marking their fifth practice of the month, and it was met with good news as wide receiver Deebo Samuel was present at practice after signing a three-year extension on Sunday.
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The 49ers' offensive starters remained the same as yesterday, with Jake Brendel starting as the center over Daniel Brunskill, and the two interior offensive linemen appeared to evenly split reps with the first-team offense on Monday.
Offense
Quarterbacks
Trey Lance completed 5/11 of his passes on Monday, with two touchdown passes, one interception, and a rushing touchdown.
Lance utilized his legs more than he had during the first week of training camp, as he seems more comfortable, basing decisions on instinct, rather than forcing himself to stay in the pocket to try and make certain throws.
Of Lance's six incompletions, he had a dropped pass, a throwaway due to pressure, and a play where the offensive line didn't move after the center snapped the ball, allowing all four defensive linemen to get to Lance, forcing him to throw a 50-50 pass to Malik Turner that became an incompletion.
Lance threw another beautiful deep ball on Monday, hitting receiver Brandon Aiyuk once again for a 40-yard pass after the receiver beat cornerback Emmanuel Moseley on a deep route.
Nate Sudfeld had another up-and-down day, completing 4/8 passes. All of Sudfeld's completions, except a nice 21-yard out off a bootleg to the left to Deebo Samuel, were below ten yards.
Sudfeld continues to struggle with his deep accuracy, overthrowing receiver Malik Turner on a 20-yard pass downfield, as well as tight end Ross Dwelley in the endzone.
Purdy finished the day completing 5/7 passes with a touchdown to Malik Turner on the last play of the day, as the receiver made a nice catch with cornerback Qwuantrezz Knight in coverage.
Purdy, like Sudfeld, completed passes only under ten air yards, but once again exhibited good pocket presence, avoiding some pressure on certain plays.
Running Backs
Elijah Mitchell continues to be the clear-cut No. 1 running back so far, but Trey Sermon took snaps with Trey Lance as the quarterback.
Sermon was the clear RB2 on Monday, while Tyrion Davis-Price and Jordan Mason took a majority of the other running back snaps.
The 49ers excelled while attempting outside-zone on Monday, but struggled to run inside, as the interior offensive line failed to create holes for the running backs.
An interesting development on Monday: Jeff Wilson Jr. did not practice due to an undisclosed injury, paving the way for Mason to get extended reps, and the undrafted rookie showed up, catching three passes, while having a strong, physical outside-zone run for a 6-yard gain. He's a sleeper candidate to win the fourth running back spot on the 53-man roster.
Wide Receivers
Trey Lance and Brandon Aiyuk continued building their connection as the duo connected for a touchdown pass, as well as a 40-yard deep ball over Emmanuel Moseley.
Aiyuk has looked great over the last two days, showcasing confidence in his abilities, and the rookie quarterback is really showing that confidence in his receiver, throwing him 50-50 balls and allowing the Arizona State product to make plays.
Ray-Ray McCloud and Jauan Jennings were underwhelming today, as neither were able to separate against the defense, earning zero catches on the day.
Malik Turner continues to see some run with the first and second-team defense, and made a nice touchdown grab to end practice on a throw from Brock Purdy.
Tight Ends
George Kittle caught three passes on Monday, building off his strong training camp performance, including a touchdown catch with cornerback Darqueze Dennard in coverage on a seven-yard throw from Trey Lance.
Wide-receiver-turned-tight-end Jordan Matthews, who had been the second-best tight end in training camp, appeared to injure himself after an awkward landing, as he was seen limping and bracing his left knee/ankle. His diagnosis is currently unknown.
None of the other tight ends really got much action on Monday, and the battle for those spots behind Kittle continues as pads come on.
Offensive Line
The offensive line had an up-and-down performance on Monday, as left tackle Trent Williams and right tackle Mike McGlinchey were both great on Sunday, with the former not allowing a pressure, while the latter allowed only one to Nick Bosa, while locking him up on other pass-rushing reps.
However, the two tackles were limited, forcing Jaylon Moore and Justin Skule to see extended time with the first team, and the centers were constantly changing between Jake Brendel and Daniel Brunskill, meaning there was an abundance of movement along the offensive line for the 49ers.
The interior offensive line struggled to run block on Monday, although the outside-zone game looked revamped, as Aaron Banks, Spencer Burford, and whoever was at the center position never really seemed to be in cohesion with one another in the zone-blocking scheme.
However, with Williams and McGlinchey at the helm, there were a few nice outside-zone runs, including a Trey Sermon six-yard gain.
The backup offensive line continues to struggle as undrafted rookie Sam Schlueter appears to be the only positive at tackle from either the second or third-team units.
Hopefully, Williams and McGlinchey continue to ramp up their practice load to provide more opportunities of seeing the first-team offensive line together.