Shanahan wants Garoppolo to run, but then to slide

On Monday, during the 49ers’ first padded practice, quarterback Jimmy

Garoppolo was pressured, took off running up the middle, and feigned a slide before he could be touched down by safety Adrian Colbert. What’s the big deal? It was the first time Garoppolo had scrambled out of the pocket under duress since Sept. 23, when his decision to not run out of bounds in Kansas City resulted in a torn ACL and torpedoed the 49ers’ season.

After practice, head coach Kyle Shanahan was asked if he wanted Garoppolo to scramble less this season. Shanahan said he was fine with Garoppolo running when necessary, given his other option might be to serve as a sitting duck for a 300pound behemoth.

“I want him to (run) more, but I want him to get down,” Shanahan said. “We never just look to scramble. That’s why we have a throwing quarterback who looks down the field. But you never tell a guy not to scramble because the other option is to just sit there and get hit.

“So if no one is open, and no one is sacking you, I love what I saw today. Because no one was open, the seas parted and he turned it into a draw. It was an exciting play. He got 13 yards and I think he fake slid. Hopefully, that will be (a) real (slide) in a game.” Fight aftermath: Jalen Hurd’s fight total from Monday: zero.

That might have had something to do with a message he received from Shanahan after he was involved in two scraps Sunday. After reviewing video to see what caused the dustups, Shanahan was largely supportive of Hurd, saying his withintherules aggression angered defensive players. But Shanahan wasn’t thrilled that Hurd also lost his cool.

“We want him to irritate the heck out of every player in that secondary,” Shanahan said. “And I hope he pisses people off. And I hope a lot of guys throw punches at him.

“I hope he sits there with his helmet on and smiles at (angry defensive backs) … and they get ejected and he gets us a free 15 yards. But he failed in that yesterday. He got the guy irritated enough to lose his composure, the guy hit him and then he fought back.” Injury report: Guard Joshua Garnett sat out with a dislocated right ring finger he sustained Monday. Garnett also dislocated the finger Sunday. Shanahan said after practice Garnett would be further evaluated later in the day. In addition, Shanahan said running back Jerick McKinnon (knee) could come off the physically unable to perform list as a soon as Thursday, but indicated he might be limited to walkthroughs.