Raiders, 49ers joint practices star-studded

HENDERSON, Nev. — There were few places better to be last week than Las Vegas, with two of the NFL’s most fascinating teams, the Raiders and 49ers, battling each other in joint practices ahead of Sunday’s preseason game.

The story lines were juicy: Jimmy Garoppolo squaring off against the team that dumped him . . . Brock Purdy returning from major elbow surgery . . . Two of the best offensive coaches matching wits in Kyle Shanahan and Josh McDaniels ... Trey Lance trying to prove that he belongs . . . Superstars all over the field in Davante Adams, Christian McCaffrey, Deebo Samuel, and

Maxx Crosby . . . The 49ers regrouping for another Super Bowl run . . . The Raiders looking to prove they belong.

The practices were intense in 90plus degree heat. Hunter Renfrow and

Chandler Jones participated Thursday, but weren’t out there Friday. Adams got popped going over the middle in Friday’s practice and had to leave early, though the Raiders don’t think it’s serious. Friday’s practice went the maximum 2½ hours, with Garoppolo and Purdy getting so many reps that it doesn’t seem likely they will play Sunday.

Raiders owner Mark Davis, who usually isn’t out there, watched both sessions in full. Mike Shanahan and Julian Edelman were in attendance. So was SiriusXM NFL Radio. The one person missing — Tom Brady, who hasn’t had any presence at Raiders camp this summer as his deal to buy a slice of the Raiders and join the front office remains in limbo.

Here are highlights and insights after spending two days with two of the NFL’s most fascinating teams:

The big story of the week was Garoppolo facing the 49ers just months after his six-year tenure in San Francisco came to an end. Garoppolo said Thursday he enjoyed facing the Niners’ defense in practice.

“First play, Dre [Greenlaw] was talking, he got things going right away,” Garoppolo said. “But those are my brothers. I love those guys.”

Garoppolo caught up with Purdy, his former teammates . . . everyone but head coach Shanahan, who had been trying to move on from Garoppolo for two years before finally doing it in February.

The relationship is clearly frosty, but Shanahan offered nothing but compliments.

“I think he was the best quarterback here in about 20 years since Steve Young,” Shananhan said. “Has an unbelievable record and every time he played and stayed healthy, we were either in the Super Bowl or NFC Championship game.”

Renfrow has had a positive camp, and was a standout in Thursday’s practice, working the slot and catching a couple of touchdowns from Garoppolo. Renfrow signed a two-year, $32 million extension before last season, but a concussion limited him to 10 games, 36 catches, 330 yards and two touchdowns. Renfrow has been hard on himself.

“I felt like I let a lot of my teammates down last year,” Renfrow said recently. “Something that I want to get over and prove to them through the spring and also going into the season, that I’m a guy that they can count on and that’s going to be consistent this season.”

The slot receiver position has always thrived in McDaniels’s offense, and Renfrow said he is “in a lot better place than I was this time last year.” But his absence Friday bears monitoring.

Purdy doesn’t show many effects from major elbow surgery in February. He’s taking his normal reps (except for a few off days sprinkled in throughout camp), isn’t wearing an elbow brace, and seems to be throwing the ball without limitation. The only problem in Vegas was the Raiders’ defense, which picked off Purdy at least three times over the two days.

“I feel really confident,” Purdy said. “We do ice the arm, [use] heat, like contrast and stuff, just to create some blood flow, which promotes healing and all that kind of stuff.”

“Yeah, I might be a [physical therapist] after this.”

Lance’s first name is appropriate, because he’s now running as the 49ers’ third-string quarterback, just a year after he spent all training camp as the starter. The 49ers are saying all the right things publicly about how much they still believe in Lance, the No. 3 overall pick in 2021, but he’s seemingly buried on the depth chart behind Purdy and Sam Darnold and has been erratic in training camp.

Against the Raiders, Shanahan praised Lance for his playmaking skills in the two-minute drill, but Lance notably didn’t score on that drive, and also fumbled two center exchanges in Thursday’s practice.

With fifth-year veteran Brandon Allen also on the roster — with 15 career starts — the 49ers are positioned to move on from Lance should the right trade offer arise. A mid-round pick might be enough, just to give everyone a fresh start.

With return specialist Ray-Ray McCloud out about eight weeks with a broken hand, the 49ers are holding an open competition at punt returner. If they can’t find a reliable one, Shanahan said he has a trusty fall back — fullback Kyle Juszczyk, who has never done it in a regular-season game.

“Kyle Juszczyk is one of the most comfortable natural punt return catchers there is,” Shanahan said. “But hopefully we have a few other guys before our fullback is out there.”

One star player who didn’t practice was 49ers tight end George Kittle, who recently suffered a strained adductor, Shanahan said. Kittle also missed the first two games last season and was limited for the next four with a groin injury. At least this year he did it earlier in camp.

One player to watch for the long term is Raiders rookie fourth-round quarterback Aidan O’Connell. He’s running third on the depth chart behind Garoppolo and Brian Hoyer, the perfect spot for O’Connell to absorb and develop. McDaniels has a solid track record with developing mid-to-late round quarterbacks, among Matt Cassel, Garoppolo, Jacoby Brissett, and Jarrett Stidham.

Interestingly, O’Connell is wearing No. 4, “the number that was given to me,” he said. Apparently, the Raiders can’t wait to move on from the Derek Carr era.

The Raiders aren’t having an ideal start with their rookie class. Defensive end Tyree Wilson, the No. 7 overall pick, still hasn’t practiced as he returns from a foot injury suffered last November. And tight end Michael Mayer ,a second-round pick, has an undisclosed injury.

McDaniels and Raiders GM Dave Ziegler really need to hit on these draft picks. Having your first-rounder miss three valuable weeks of training camp time isn’t ideal.

There was a funny embrace between Shanahan and Pro Bowl defensive end Crosby as they discussed their pre-draft interview from 2019.

“I wanted to apologize to him because we were kind of jerks to him,” Shanahan said. “It was [DL coach] Kris Kocurek’s first interview, and he had been at some other places where they liked to kind of attack the guys a little bit, rattle them. That’s not totally our style . . . And he did it to like the coolest dude. So we always tell him that was all Kris, not us.”

Crosby laughed it off.

“Oh, it was a great meeting,” he said. “I remember Kocurek was in there going through the meeting, and he was like, ‘ALRIGHT!’ He was yelling, but not mad, you know what I mean? His energy was crazy, but in a good way. And I liked that, because I’m used to it.”