On Thursday morning, the San Francisco 49ers held their first of two joint practices with the Las Vegas Raiders. The two teams will go at it again on Friday, leading into Sunday's exhibition opener at Allegiant Stadium.
The biggest 49ers-related offseason storyline has been the quarterback situation. Brock Purdy is returning from surgery on his throwing arm. Trey Lance, last year's starter, is returning from a season-ending ankle injury and finds himself fighting for the QB2 job. His competition? Veteran Sam Darnold, the former first-round pick with 55 career starts under his belt. The team also has veteran Brandon Allen.
Linebacker Fred Warner spoke to reporters after Thursday's practice and offered his assessment of the team's quarterbacks. How does he feel about the four players as the 49ers inch closer to the start of the regular season?
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"I feel great about it," Warner said. "Obviously, that side of the ball, Coach [Kyle] Shanahan, all those offensive coaches, they're the ones running that show over there. But what I've seen from all three of those guys—four of them, even talking about Brandon Allen—I think they all look great.
"[They're] just competitive, working their tails off, making the right decisions, making the big-play throws when they need to be made, and then obviously checking it down when it needs to be checked down. So I think they're all doing the right things."
On Thursday, Warner went up against a familiar face—his former teammate, Jimmy Garoppolo, now the Raiders' starting quarterback.
"It was fun seeing him," Warner said. "I had to check him out before practice started, just ask him how things were, making sure they're treating well over here. He seems happy. It was fun to go against him out there again."
Warner added, "Some guys are just natural-born leaders. You either got it or you don't. And with him, he was a natural-born leader through and through. His competitive edge, every time he stepped out there, you knew he was always going to give us a chance. Just seeing him and his poise out there, he was just a leader through and through, and I respect him a lot, and I'm grateful for him, for everything he brought to our team."
