SANTA CLARA — Richard Sherman practiced with pads Sunday for the first time since he suffered an Achilles rupture November 11, 2017. Sherman sat out Saturday, the first padded training camp session of the season, to rest after practicing Thursday and Friday.
His opening rep in individual drills with receivers didn’t treat him so well.
Sherman lined up across Marquise Goodwin in a drill that heavily favors the receiver, who has the entire field to work with without accounting for secondary help. Goodwin froze Sherman and used his Olympic-caliber speed to blaze downfield. Jimmy Garoppolo lobbed a rainbow for Goodwin, who made an over-the-shoulder, acrobatic grab for a long gain.
#49ersCamp 1-on-1s: Marquise Goodwin takes Richard Sherman deep. #49ers pic.twitter.com/H1gS4oZeAg
— Rob Lowder (@Rob_Lowder) July 29, 2018
Sherman has always dominated with intelligence, anticipating routes and baiting quarterbacks to win matchups. He’s historically great in press coverage, frequently jamming opposing receivers out of their initial move, but Goodwin evaded Sherman’s grasp Sunday before burning the three-time All-Pro cornerback upfield.
Otherwise, Sherman fared well during team drills. He was glued to tight end George Kittle on a curl, giving him little air space before knocking the pass away. Sherman also prevented a Garoppolo-to-Garcon back-shoulder fade along the sideline, which resulted in an incompletion.
Garoppolo’s long ball improved
Here’s to vowing not to dissect every one Garoppolo’s long throws every practice.
But let’s wait until Tuesday.
Garoppolo’s long ball was sharp in individual drills, and he later connected with Goodwin on a 50-yard touchdown over Jimmie Ward during 11-on-11s. Garoppolo slightly under-threw Goodwin, making him retreat a bit rather than catching in stride.
Goodwin is one of the fastest players in the league, and Garoppolo is still adjusting.
“It’s different throwing a go ball to Marquise than it is to another receiver,” Garoppolo said after Sunday’s practice. “I’ve never had a receiver like Marquise where you have to change a couple of things, tweak a couple of things and you’re dropping, I don’t know, it just happens differently. That acclimation to one another is obviously growing and like I said, it was good to hit one today.”
The pass rush was disruptive
The 49ers ranked tied for 26th with 30 sacks last year. They did not re-sign Elvis Dumervil, who led the team in sacks, this offseason. It’s now up to the rotational slew of pass rushers, and bulldozing defensive tackle DeForest Buckner, to pick up the slack.
Sunday showed improvement. There were several plays in which the 49ers defensive line would have sacked the quarterbacks had they been allowed to, with Jeremiah Attaochu, Eli Harold, Cassius Marsh, Solomon Thomas, and Ronald Blair, all getting backfield pressure. Reuben Foster and Jimmie Ward also blitzed Garoppolo and knocked the ball out of his hands. Arik Armstead and DeForest Buckner have been consistently disruptive with their power and length.
Play of the day
Fifth-round pick D.J. Reed has undergone a position switch from cornerback to safety during his rookie season. He looked like a natural Sunday. During 11-on-11s with the second-team, Reed made a leaping, toe-tapping interception on a pass intended for Dante Pettis. C.J. Beathard, who struggled throughout practice, made the throw off his back foot, and Reed made him pay.
Odds and ends
-Right guard Joshua Garnett did not practice after banging knees with a teammate Saturday. The injury is not considered to be serious.
-The Garoppolo-Pierre Garcon connection never got going last season because the veteran receiver missed the final eight games with a neck injury. The two paired up for two completions during Sunday’s team drills. Garcon’s physical, shifty style figures to complement Garoppolo’s quick release and accuracy on intermediate throws.
-Dante Pettis is making more plays with each passing day. He made a series of sideline catches during team drills after badly spinning around rookie teammate Tarvarus McFadden during an individual drill.
Dante Pettis gets the better of Tarvarus McFadden here in the rookie matchup pic.twitter.com/uTcHAmtlHR
— Brad Almquist (@bradalmquist13) July 29, 2018
-Richie James is another rookie receiver who has impressed early. Note his patient style of route-running in the video below.
Rookie WR Richie James working in one-on-one drills. James has had a very good first four days of camp pic.twitter.com/ZeQjOA42fr
— Brad Almquist (@bradalmquist13) July 29, 2018
-The 49ers have Monday off before returning to the practice field Tuesday.