49ers training camp Trey Lance looking good on Day 1

49ers training camp: Trey Lance looking good on Day 1, offensive line mixed

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SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Trey Lance was an efficient 5-of-7 pass in team situations, Deebo Samuel sprinted on a side field and the 49ers continued to experiment with their starting offense.

Those were the headlines from Wednesday’s day 1 of training camp, which felt like spring training. The session lasted just under 90 minutes and involved no batting or tackling. The team will not have their first fully padded workout until Monday.

As during most of spring, Lance looked like he was in control during his 11-on-11 reps, but mostly stuck to short passes, particularly tight ends. Early on, he faked a handoff to running back Jeff Wilson Jr., rolled to the right and picked up a nice win with his legs.

His only incompletions came when cornerback Emmanuel Moseley aggressively hit a sideline throw from receiver Jauan Jennings — Moseley later chastised himself for not going for an interception — and when receiver Austin Mack slipped while making a cut. Moseley was also the cornerback at that game.

Why not highlight reel deep balls? It could have to do with the types of plays the 49ers rehearsed. Nate Sudfeld, for example, was even sharper than Lance in 7v7, but his passes were also mostly safe, short ones. The exception came in seven-a-side practice when Sudfeld threw a deep pass down the left touchline to receiver Malik Turner, who kept his feet after tangling with Ambry Thomas, who fell to the ground.

The longest team practice win came from round seven Brock Purdy, who hit Jordan Matthews in the step over the middle. Matthews, a former wide receiver, capitalized on that momentum and passed the third string secondary for a massive win. Purdy was 2-of-3 in team situations and also had a nice finish for KeeSean Johnson ahead of cornerback Ka’dar Hollman.

The fourth quarterback? Earlier in the day, Kyle Shanahan said Jimmy Garoppolo would go through a throwing routine in the morning – he booted up after shoulder surgery in March – but would be free for the day after. Shanahan said the quarterback did exactly that Wednesday. But he was later spotted in the weight room as training began. Garoppolo passed his physical Tuesday, meaning the 49ers are no longer on the hook for $7.5 million if they cut him.

In recent years, the 49ers have kept four healthy quarterbacks on their roster. However, Shanahan said there were no plans to add a No. 4, even if the team parted ways with Garoppolo during training camp. After all, summer practice isn’t nearly as grueling as it used to be, and Lance, Sudfeld and Purdy are all relative newbies who need a lot of iterations in practice and preseason.

Other observations from Day 1:

• Shanahan said on Tuesday that the team could play “musical chairs” with the spots on the inside offensive and it seems the music has already started. During spring training, sophomore Jaylon Moore took the lion’s share of first-team snaps at right flank. On Wednesday, fourth-round pick Spencer Burford was at that spot. Readers may recall that former general manager Scot McCloughan was impressed with Burford’s college film and ranked it a runner-up.

It’s important to remember that acting right guard Daniel Brunskill didn’t practice in the spring and the 49ers may bring him back into action. Brunskill played with the second-team unit at center on Wednesday. Also, Trent Williams was absent due to a family matter, while Mike McGlinchey is not yet fully trained. So the 49ers may have decided that Moore was needed on Wednesday’s tackle rather than guard.

Overall, the first-team offensive line looked good against the extremely well-manned defensive line, although the real test will come next week when training has a more physical element. Of course there were a lot of substitutions, but the offensive ranks were mainly composed as follows:

First team: LT Colton McKivitz, LG Aaron Banks, C Jake Brendel, RG Burford, RT Moore

Second team: LT Moore, LG Nick Zakelj, C Brunskill, RG Jason Poe, RT Justin Skule

Third team: LT Sam Schlueter, LG Keaton Sutherland, C Dohnovan West, RG Poe, RT Alfredo Gutierrez

• An understated rookie to watch this summer: Poe. The 49ers were impressed with the progress he’d made in the spring, and as detailed above, he featured twice on Wednesday. In the spring he worked exclusively with the offensive of the third team.

Poe fell out of the draft, both because of his height — at 6-foot-1, the contrast between him and 6-8 McGlinchey is stark — and his level of competition at Mercer University. But his athleticism is second to none, and he also has a magnetic personality that made him instantly popular in the 49ers locker room. For example, he trained with the group’s esteemed veteran Williams during the summer break, with Williams taking the newcomer on a private jet when they returned to Santa Clara earlier this week. Poe and Banks were seen snapping some additional snaps after practice ended on Wednesday.

• Another difference compared to spring: significantly more players took part. McGlinchey (square) and Javon Kinlaw (ACL) were in uniform, although neither had full training. Linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair, meanwhile, underwent offseason surgery on his left elbow (serious) and left knee (not so serious).

There was a scare on Wednesday when Al-Shaair collided with fullback Kyle Juszczyk and the linebacker struggled to get to his feet. He later explained that the impact drove his arm brace into his midsection and took his breath away. Al-Shaair said all he could hear in his helmet receiver was Defense Coordinator DeMeco Ryans barking, “Get up! You’re fine!” He was. Al-Shair later returned to the practice.

Al-Shair played strongside linebacker. Fred Warner, also not training in the spring, and Dre Greenlaw were the every-down linebackers. Others who were back after missing all or most of the spring sessions: George Kittle, Nick Bosa, Elijah Mitchell, Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles and rookies Tyrion Davis-Price, Danny Gray and Jeremiah Gemmel.

• The 49ers have been announcing for more than four months that it would happen, and on Wednesday they finally did, releasing the often-injured Dee Ford. In the 2019 offseason, they traded a second-round pick to Ford for the Chiefs and gave him a five-year, $87.5 million contract because they wanted an edge-rusher who was lightning fast.

Ford showed that, but only early this season. He struggled with knee injuries in the second half of 2019 and then experienced a recurrence of a back problem that limited him to seven games in the 2020 and 2021 seasons. The move will save them $1.12 million in salary cap.

• Running back pecking order: Mitchell, Wilson, JaMycal Hasty, Trey Sermon, Davis-Price and Jordan Mason. LSU third-rounder Davis-Price had the best run of the day, one in which he broke through the left side of defense and armed two third-row defenders with stiff arms on his way to a big win.

• With Core Muscle Surgery’s Charlie Woerner unlikely to return to training for at least a few weeks, there’s room for a tight finish to make a name for himself. Kittle and Ross Dwelley were in the top two spots on Wednesday. Next up? It appeared to be veteran Tyler Kroft who may have an advantage over newcomer Troy Fumagalli for playing on the same offense with the Jets last season. Matthews and Tanner Hudson round out the group.

• The 49ers used all possible combinations along the defensive line. One of the more intriguing uses edge rushers Bosa and Samson Ebukam in combination with interior rushers Arik Armstead and Charles Omenihu. Omenihu could end up in the role Arden Key had last season – as an inside half who comes into play in obvious passing situations.

• We’ll have to follow him on that one, but McGlinchey doesn’t look nearly as heavy as he did at this point last year. Weight was a big issue with the right tackle. He dropped to 290 pounds in 2020 and then gained 25 pounds ahead of last season to bolster his passing protection. He seems to be somewhere in the middle of those marks now.

• Brandon Aiyuk, who spent much of the offseason with Lance and Sudfeld, was Wednesday’s top receiver. He caught a pass from Lance and three from Sudfeld. Meanwhile, Samuel executes a hold-in. He is on site for the training camp but is not training while a long-term deal is negotiated.

(Photo by Trey Lance: Stan Szeto / USA Today)