LB Alexander feeling like his ‘legendary’ self
SANTA CLARA >> Jimmy Garoppolo turned to his right and fired a completion to running back Tevin Coleman near the right sideline. Instantly, linebacker Kwon Alexander arrived on the scene. Alexander celebrated, and rightfully so.
While so much attention is on Garoppolo’s comeback from an anterior cruciate ligament tear, Alexander is on his own ACL comeback, one that started a month after the quarterback’s.
How is Alexander feeling? “I feel legendary,” he replied. “Just getting back out there on the field, it’s been amazing.” Legendary? “That’s a word I use,” Alexander said. “I don’t like to use the word G-O-O-D, because I’m trying to be better
than that. I use that to keep my mindset where it needs to be.”
After four seasons as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers blossoming linebacker, Alexander came to the 49ers as a pricey free agent, then watched from the sideline during the offseason program.
Making the play on Coleman’s reception Sunday helped his “legendary” confidence.
“It just felt great, me being out there moving around,” Alexander said. “Then to be able to read and react like I still can do, that’s what it is, just getting my confidence back and making sure my team can trust in me.”
Alexander is adjusting to
a “cool” switch to weak-side linebacker while Fred Warner returns for his second season as the 49ers’ “Mike.” Added Alexander: “I’ve got players around me that are going to ball and do their jobs and everybody is holding everybody accountable. I’m loving it.”
He’ll love today even more if he’s allowed to hit someone in full pads for the first time since the Oct. 21 game against the Cleveland Browns in which he tore his ACL. “I can’t wait. I’m itching right now,” Alexander added.
FIGHT CLUB? >> Training camp’s physicality will intensify once pads are allowed today. Rookie wide receiver Jalen Hurd got a jump on that by a day, by getting into a pair of scuffles toward the end of Sunday’s practice.
Coach Kyle Shanahan looked forward to studying video and seeing if Hurd can be excused for merely blocking so physically.
The first fight appeared to be against cornerback Dontae Johnson. Round 2 came when he got dogpiled by multiple defenders. (Remember in the movie “The Bad News Bears” when Tanner took on “the whole seventh grade” for taunting him?)
Hurd, a third-round draft pick, missed offseason practices with a knee issue, so these are his first pro practices with the full team. Keep in mind, he was a physical running back before converting to wide receiver at Baylor last year.
“I don’t want any of that to change. That’s why we brought him here,” Shanahan said of Hurd’s physicality. “I’ve got to see what happened. If he’s just physical and blocking people, and they’re getting upset, shame on them. But if he’s doing more than he should to his teammates, then I have a problem with it.”
SOLOMON’S HEALTH >> Defensive tackle Solomon Thomas looks as great as he says he’s feeling. “I’m mentally free, physically free and ready to go,” said Thomas, who was “deep in the middle of a grieving phase” last season after losing his sister to suicide.
Helping Thomas restore his mental health was general manager John Lynch. “He’s meant the world to me, from being in my first class at Stanford, drafting me and reaching out at the hardest time in my life,” Thomas said. “I can’t thank him enough.”
AHKELLO VS. DANTE >> Wide receiver Dante Pettis got the best of cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon for a reception early in practice, and Witherspoon spledidly responded, first with an interception by cutting off Pettis to snare a Jimmy Garoppolo pass in 7-on-7 action. Witherspoon also made a pass break-up later.
“I told him after practice, ‘You did your thing today. Keep it up,’” Goodwin said. “It’s good to see young guys on offense and defense get better, because ultimately they’re going to help the team get better.” GAROPPOLO WATCH >> Garoppolo finished 5 of 13 in 11-on-11 drills, and even though this is technically the second full-team action since his knee recovery, Shanahan is exercising patience in his evaluation and expects things to look smoother once pads clean up the line play and pocket.
Garoppolo’s leadership shined through when he checked in with Pettis after the interception. “That’s on me,” Pettis said. “If he throws that ball, like, he’s trusting me. Worst-case scenario, it’s a brokenup pass. That’s just something I have to get into my head.
“He’s trusting me that this ball is not going to go to the other team, no matter what. He just kind of told me that, ‘Look, I trust you, and you’ve got to break it up or something.’” FORCING FUMBLES >> For the second time in as many practices, the defense forced a fumble, and Sunday’s came from Tevin Coleman on what appeared to be a strip by linebacker Fred Warner.
INJURY WATCH >> Guard Joshua Garnett dislocated a finger for the second straight day and had to leave practice.
• Linebacker Kwon Alexander (knee) and cornerback Jason Verrett (Achilles) reacted quickly and perfectly on early plays. Shanahan visited Verrett after that first session of team drills to congratulate him on the mental hurdles of making it through the first practice of camp, to which Verrett told him he was very happy and encouraged.
• Rookie running back Austin Walter appeared to tweak his left hamstring in offensive warmups, leaving more work for Tevin Coleman, Matt Breida, Raheem Mostert and Jeffrey Wilson.
MONEY GRAB >> Goodwin said he still hasn’t been paid the $1 million he won in a 40-yard dash event this offseason and that a 30-day deadline awaits. The 49ers, meanwhile, are paying him roughly $3 million this season. At age 28, he is the oldest member of the wide receiving corps; Jordan Matthews recently turned 27.
PASS DEFENSE >> Whereas the defensive line stood out in Saturday’s practice, the pass coverage shined Sunday, including plays by Witherspoon, Richard Sherman and defensive lineman Ronald Blair.
KICK RETURNERS >> The kickoff-return specialist is an endangered job in today’s NFL, and among those auditioning Sunday: Richie James, Matt Breida, D.J. Reed, Deebo Samuel and Hurd.