Garoppolo settles in during OTAs
QB no longer taking crash course in offense
SANTA CLARA >> Organized Team Activities are underway on the 49ers training fields, and Tuesday marked the first chance since last season to see veterans practice, along with a vast crop of newcomers. Here are the top observations:
1>> QB Jimmy Garoppolo looks as poised and picturesque as he did in his 5-0 debut last December. This is his first offseason in the 49ers program — the trade that brought him here from New England went down Oct. 31 — and he’s not parading around like a $137.5-million spoiled QB.
“Everyone knows the crash course that Jimmy got last year,” coach Kyle Shanahan said, “and it’s been nice to just slow it down, teach him the verbiage and the whys, instead of just, ‘Hey, memorize this by Sunday.’ It’s been nice for him to know why and talk through that stuff. The more you do that, it will carry over to play better.”
Garoppolo was front and center from the start of team stretching exercises, and he typically talked with Shanahan in the backfield after throws. After a 20-yard completion to a leaping Marquise Goodwin, Garoppolo gave a mild fist pump, and that’s as demonstrative as he got.
“You can definitely tell the guy is very professional and wants to be great,” said Weston Richburg, the newcomer at center. “It’s easy for us to follow his lead.”
Fantasy football alert: Garoppolo’s best throws Tuesday, or at least his best connections, were on horizontal passes to new running back Jerick McKinnon.
“I’m very excited. It’s been exactly what we were hoping for so far,” Shanahan said of McKinnon. “We can see the athlete on tape, but I didn’t know the person. I’d heard a lot about it. He’s been as good as advertised, if not better.”
Shanahan cautioned not to read too much into the first days of OTA’s and that he’ll have a better gauge after mandatory minicamp begins June 12.
2>> Richard Sherman (Achilles’) is not practicing until camp, but he’s living vicariously through every fellow cornerback by giving them tips. When secondyear cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon’s tight coverage prompted an incomplete pass, Sherman was quick off the sideline to offer praise.
Witherspoon spoke after practice how grateful he is to learn under his long-time idol, and although he ribbed Sherman for beating him in a recent go-cart race with other defensive backs, their budding chemistry is, well, in the stars.
“It’s been very natural. I attribute it to him being a fellow Aries,” Witherspoon said. “So we understand each other on a different level. On the football side, he’s a great person, teaches me a lot, is very hands-on and wants my game to get better.”
Sherman also spent times at practice standing next to Shanahan during special teams drills and GM John Lynch during 11-on-11s.
3>> The first-string offensive line had incumbents at left tackle in Joe Staley and left guard in Laken Tomlinson, newcomers in Richburg and right tackle Mike McGlinchey, and then there was right guard Joshua Garnett. A 2016 first-round draft pick from Stanford, Garnett (6-foot-5, 315 pounds) sat out last season and slimmed his midsection some but not all.
With veteran Jonathan Cooper (knee) being held out until training camp, Garnett has a great shot to entrench himself at right guard, where he worked both Monday and Tuesday. Mike Person saw some first-team action there Tuesday as well.
Richburg, signed as a free agent after four seasons with the New York Giants, is key to the line’s transition as he replaces Daniel Kilgore. Shanahan is pleased with how well Richburg is communicating, and the new center said his transition has been eased by a level of camaraderie that has surprised him.
“It’s new to me seeing teammates hang out like that all the time off the field. It’s really cool,” Richburg said. “They do a really good job here creating that family atmosphere.”
McGlinchey, the top draft pick last month out of Notre Dame, threw a low block on Arik Armstead the first play of team drills to help protect Garoppolo.
4>> The defense, despite the absence of Sherman and linebacker Reuben Foster, looked more comfortable in the second year of coordinator Robert Saleh’s scheme. That included a slimmer-looking Jimmie Ward in his move to left cornerback, while his old spot at free safety is manned by a faster and ball-hawking Adrian Colbert.
Malcolm Smith lined up at inside linebacker on the first team next to Korey Toomer, a free-agent acquisition. Thirdround draft pick Fred Warner handled the “Mike” spot on the second team — he called out plays too loud in the huddle, Shanahan said — next to Elijah Lee.
Foster’s participation in the offseason program hinges in part on whether he’ll stand trial for domestic violence and assault-weapon charges. A ruling is expected today. Shanahan said he has kept in touch with Foster, communicating once or twice a week.
“He’s hanging in there,” Shanahan said. “It’s a tough challenge. It’s a very hard thing to go through. We’ll see how this ends up . ... Reuben is handling it right.”