"A Hell Of A Day"

 Nick Wagoner, “This was a practice with QB Brock Purdy in total control. Not counting him spiking the ball once in two-minute, I had Purdy at 21-of-27 on the day with no interceptions and at least three for sure touchdowns with two or three others that could have gone for one. In one sequence during a move the ball period, Purdy dropped one over and between three defenders to rookie WR De'Zhaun Stribling, hitting him in stride for what likely would have gone for a long touchdown. He then fired a strike to TE Jake Tonges deep down the middle for another big gain as it layered over another defender, fired a short one to WR Deebo Samuel for another chunk and then hit WR Demarcus Robinson on a busted coverage for a touchdown. Even Shanahan had to give Purdy his props after, noting that he had 'a hell of a day'.”

Unofficial

 

Offensive Line Continuity

 

Notes and observations from 49ers practice #10

- RB Christian McCaffrey was the only addition to the not practicing report Monday with what the team called "tightness." Understandably, lots of eyes will be on that situation. OC Klay Kubiak says the team is "just managing" McCaffrey with an eye toward having him ready for Week 1 against the Rams. We'll see if he's in the mix for a joint practice tomorrow but (my take) seems more likely they'd hold him out so he can get this week to rid himself of that tightness. He'd be unlikely to play Thursday night anyway. - Coach Kyle Shanahan was out there for essentially the entire practice as he continues his road back to full strength. - One notable thing from before practice: TE George Kittle did the most extensive side work we've been able to see so far in this camp. He was running routes, catching passes and doing some conditioning. Seems to be moving quite well as he bounces back from Achilles injury. - The full list of those missing practice today: McCaffrey, LB Luke Gifford (hamstring), DE Nick Bosa (soreness), WR Jacob Cowing (hip flexor strain), FB Kyle Juszczyk (broken finger), OL Brett Toth (concussion), WR Christian Kirk (calf), WR Mike Evans (quad), S Malik Mustapha (hamstring), RB Kaelon Black (adductor), RB Jordan James (rib), DL Keion White (adductor), OT Vederian Lowe (ankle) Players on PUP: Kittle (achilles), RB Isaac Guerendo (pec), DL Mykel Williams (ACL) - Almost all of those guys did at least some level of work on the side during practice. That included Evans, of course, but this is first time I've seen White and Black doing stuff since their adductor injuries. - OL Carver Willis is back from his concussion. He jumped right in with the 2s at LG with Connor Colby on the right side. Robert Jones continues to rep with the 1s at LG. Kubiak says the competition for the starting LG spot is still open. - A roster move: Team released OL Nick Zakelj. They signed OL Doug Kramer Jr. - A number change: WR Will Pauling switched from No. 4 to No. 84. He and QB Adrian Martinez were both in 4 but changed presumably because they need to have different numbers for the preseason game when they might be on the field at the same time. - Some pretty good battles in one-on-one pass rush drills today. Not a lot of convincing wins on either side, which means it was pretty good work. Among the standouts: Colton McKivitz doing well against Sam Okauyinonu followed by a good battle with Romello Height in which McKivitz seemed to have him stopped but Height spun out of it for a late pressure... It's been a rough camp for Enrique Cruz Jr. but he had a nice recovery on an outside rush from Ogbo Okoronkwo, though K.J. Henry later beat him cleanly... C.J. West had a good rep early against C Jake Brendel though he and Brendel later had another good battle... In one sequence, Willis took back to back reps, one at C and one at LG. He was beat clean at center by West then moved to guard and did very well against Osa Odighizuwa. Suffice to say, Willis a work in progress at C and looks more comfortable at G, as you'd expect... The Niners worked TE Luke Farrell in a bit here, isolating him against DEs Titus Leo and Quinton Bell. Leo and Bell got the better of him, though Farrell put up a fight in both. - Another solid day with some big plays for QB Brock Purdy and the offense. I had Purdy at 10-of-13 (would-be sacks and some penalties nullified a few throws to my eye). He hit rookie WR De'Zhaun Stribling on a perfect deep corner for a huge gain and later found WR Demarcus Robinson for another big play/would-be TD. Purdy also hit Deebo over the middle for what would have been a big gainer. - One of those stops on Purdy I had as a would-be sack for LB Fred Warner. Purdy scrambled away from pressure but Warner came up and made the play. Warner also had a big thud on WR Junior Bergen after he caught a short pass. - With their projected top four RBs not practicing, there was plenty of work for the others on the roster today, perhaps most notably Khalil Herbert. Wouldn't be surprised if Herbert gets plenty of work on Thursday night along with Patrick Taylor Jr. and Sincere McCormick. - CB Jack Jones had another interception, this time jumping in front of a throw from Martinez for WR Jordan Watkins. - A couple of drops Monday as Samuel had a Purdy pass go through his hands and bounce off his chest and McCormick failed to haul in another throw from Purdy. - LB Nick Martin had a nice run stuff while playing on the LOS and DT Sebastian Valdez had a would-be sack. - A relatively light session though with plenty of team periods and some competitive move the ball and red zone sessions. Things will pick up a bit more tomorrow when the Titans come to town for a joint practice. 

Australia: Sleep Science

Reading more into some sleep science, I am not convinced the 49ers are making the correct choice vs the Rams with the Australia trip. At least based on the National Library of Medicine, arriving within 24 hours, the Rams will avoid having to adjust to the new time zone as that adjustment peaks around 48-72 hours. The 49ers will have adjusted to local time as they will be 7 days early. However, the game is 10:35AM local. Peak physical body performance is late afternoon. The 49ers will be playing at a 10:35AM physical body clock, while the rams will be playing at a 5:35PM body clock. Plus, they won’t be jet lagged on return never having adjusted. 

Science Direct provides the counter argument and backs the 49ers strategy. Maybe acclimating to the climate is more important than trying to avoid the jet lag - same reason they practiced in Colorado before the Mexico City game. Australia has opposite seasons as us, so it could be smart. I like the extra time for team bonding. I guess we'll find out soon enough which is the better approach.

Nick's Notes and observations from #49ers practice No. 9:

- Coach Kyle Shanahan is very close to being back at full speed. He came out to practice today at 10:26 am and was on the field for the whole thing. He's still not quite calling the offense and standing in his usual spot but he's getting there as evidenced by his surprise media session after practice. - The entire coaching staff was wearing Roger Craig No. 33 shirts in honor of the legendary running back as he goes into the Pro Football Hall of Fame today. - The only new name added to the list of non participants in practice on Saturday: LB Luke Gifford. It's unclear why he didn't participate but he did some work on the side. - The full list of those missing practice today: Gifford, OL Nick Zakelj (elbow), DE Nick Bosa (soreness), OL Carver Willis (concussion), WR Jacob Cowing (hip flexor strain), FB Kyle Juszczyk (broken finger), OL Brett Toth (concussion), WR Christian Kirk (calf), WR Mike Evans (quad), S Malik Mustapha (hamstring), RB Kaelon Black (adductor), RB Jordan James (rib), DL Keion White (adductor), OT Vederian Lowe (ankle) Players on PUP: TE George Kittle (achilles), RB Isaac Guerendo (pec), DL Mykel Williams (ACL) - Once again, many of these guys were doing some sort of work on the side. Evans looks close to full strength and Shanahan said Evans probably feels like he can be back now but they want to be smart with him. - WR De'Zhaun Stribling and LB Dre Greenlaw were back in team drills in varying capacities after easing back in from a hamstring and soreness the other day. - Some notes from one-on-one pass rush drills: RG Dominick Puni looks like he's ready to take another big step forward and potentially set himself up for a nice pay day. He had excellent reps against DT Osa Odighizuwa and Gracen Halton. ... Colton McKivitz shut down DE Romello Height on the first rep of practice then did it again later. They ran it back and Height jumped offsides twice before finally getting past McKivitz with a nice spin move inside... Rough day for DT CJ West, who seemed to be struggling to keep his pads low. He came up out of his stance a bit high a few times and didn't generate much push on a few of his reps, including one where C Jake Brendel handled him well... Brendel also had a good rep against Sebastian Valdez... Rookie DTs James Thompson Jr. and Bryson Eason and Odighizuwa and got the better of Connor Colby... Drake Nugent had a couple of solid showings against Thompson and West... Still no Alfred Collins here, though he's been plenty involved in team periods. And no one-on-ones for Trent Williams today (though he usually only does one rep anyway). - Score one for the defense today, bouncing back after the top offense had torched it a couple of times during the week. - CB Upton Stout led the way with a couple of big plays. First, he had a diving pass breakup near the goal line on a pass from QB Brock Purdy intended for Demarcus Robinson. Later, Stout jumped a throw for Robinson, picked it off and returned it for a touchdown. Stout even did a front flip into the end zone to cap it off. - CB Deommodore Lenoir, who has had his share of pass breakups in this camp finally got his hands on one with another pick (and possible return for a TD?) on another throw from Purdy for Robinson. Seemed perhaps Purdy tried to squeeze some tight ones into Robinson and it just didn't work today like in recent practices. - LB Fred Warner had an impressive pass breakup on a layered throw over the middle intended for Jordan Watkins. Warner also recovered what appeared to be a fumble early in the first period of team though it was unclear what exactly happened from my vantage point. - DB Nate Hobbs flashed some play making today with a bit more work in team. He had a pair of pass breakups in the red zone, one on a throw for Watkins froM Mac Jones in the corner of the end zone (there was an offside penalty called here) and another on a throw over the middle from Adrian Martinez. - DT Gracen Halton had a nice run stuff against Patrick Taylor Jr. right before Stout's pick-6. Collins got his hand up and batted down a Kurtis Rourke pass. - The Niners did a lot of mixing and matching today on offense. There were times where the top OL worked with QB Kurtis Rourke and other QBs were in with different lines. Perhaps made things a bit more disjointed for the offense. - It wasn't all bad on that side of the ball, though. Had Purdy at 15-of-22, including a tight window TD in the red zone to TE Luke Farrell, who continues to be a favorite target for Purdy in this camp. Purdy also hit Farrell on a deep throw up the seam and hit WR Trenton Irwin on a deep ball early in practice as well as a nice job moving in the pocket and finding Christian McCaffrey for a big gain over the middle. - Stribling was back in the mix in team and making an impact again, catching balls from multiple quarterbacks on multiple routes for multiple sizable gains. Shanahan referred to Stribling picking things up in a hurry in his presser and it continues to look like -- if healthy -- Stribling could have a fairly extensive role early on. - The running back situation behind McCaffrey has no clarity right now because Black, James and Guerendo are out. Nothing against the others that are getting reps there but this is such a prime opportunity for one of those young backs to plant the flag as RB2 and it's just not happening because of injury. Perhaps some will return next week because the path is there. - The Niners are off tomorrow but we will have some access to assistant coaches. Will pass along some notables that come from that session and then right back to it next week with the Titans coming for joint practice on Tuesday and the preseason opener on Thursday.  

Dynamic Balance

 Seems Brock prefers shotgun and feels like we operate out of it much more than we used to. Could be it affects how the running game hasn't been the same too.