HENDERSON, Nev. — A 49ers-Raiders affair with passes instead of punches? Such was the case Thursday as these former Bay Area neighbors squared off in the first of two joint practices before Sunday’s preseason opener.
“There’s no bad blood or anything,” 49ers linebacker Fred Warner said. “It’s all about ball.”
It also was mostly about Jimmy Garoppolo wearing No. 10 in a different uniform, and, in the crispest drill of the 90-minute session, producing a touchdown drive, then both he and the 49ers exchanging kind words about his previous 5 1/2-year tenure in the red and gold.
Here are the top takeaways from before and after practice at the Raiders’ headquarters since 2020 upon leaving Oakland:
Tight end George Kittle (thigh) and linebacker Dre Greenlaw (hamstring) showed up on the injury report, but the biggest blow sure to linger into the season was to return specialist Ray-Ray McCloud, who sustained a fractured left wrist in Tuesday’s practice. McCloud will have surgery Friday and likely miss the first month of the season.
Kittle observed practice because of an adductor (groin) strain earlier this week, and his first-team reps appeared split between returning veterans Charlie Woerner and Ross Dwelley. Last year, Kittle sustained a groin injury six days before the season opener and missed two games.
Greenlaw pulled a hamstring early in Thursday’s session, so he will miss at least the next week of practice, as will Kittle, according to coach Kyle Shanahan.
Defensive linemen Drake Jackson, Robert Beal Jr. and Kalia Davis are all dealing with hamstring issues. Offensive tackle Jaylon Moore (knee) remains out, but left guard Aaron Banks returned to team drills after last week’s concussion.
McCloud’s speciality is as a punt returner, and the leading candidates to replace him are rookies Ronnie Bell and D’Shawn Jamison, with coach Kyle Shanahan also mentioning Kyle Juszczyk’s versatility as an option.
Shanahan described Bell as a “natural catcher and he looks confident, so he’ll have an opportunity.”
Danny Gray, who did not practice Thursday because of soreness, is viewed more as a kick returner than a punt returner, a job that requires sure hands, as Shanahan noted; Gray has been inconsistent at catching passes in his second training camp.
Christian McCaffrey is a willing returner, but don’t expect the 49ers to expose their offensive catalyst to that medieval exercise of fielding punts.
“If they want me to, I’m there. I’d love to,” McCaffrey said. “But Ray-Ray is one of the best, so …”
So … the 49ers indeed have a replacement issue ahead of the Sept. 10 opener in Pittsburgh, where McCloud played two seasons before joining the 49ers last year. He averaged 10.8 yards per punt return (10.0 in the playoffs) and had 14 catches as a slot receiver.
McCaffrey helps fill that slot-receiver role when he’s not carrying the ball out of the backfield. Now is the time for other receivers to show their capabilities, behind the top three of Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk and Jauan Jennings.
Aside from reporters, Purdy acknowledged that “a lot of people are interested and curious” about his recovery from elbow surgery, to which he noted he is still working on his volume and velocity but otherwise is confident, two weeks into camp. “I feel almost back to normal,” said Purdy, adding that his post-practice recovery is similar to past years in terms of using both ice and heat to promote blood flow.
Purdy threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to McCaffrey to cap their opening red-zone drive, but he had a pass intercepted on his next series. The grand finale was a two-minute drill which featured Purdy moving the 49ers with completions to Jennings (two), Deebo Samuel and Ross Dwelley, before a final pass into the end zone fell incomplete to Jennings against double coverage.
A sizeable chunk of the post-practice media sessions revolved around Purdy’s predecessor, Garoppolo, to which Purdy’s expressed a lot of gratitude and said: “In my little time with him last season, it was a way for me to learn a lot from him, and it was a blessing.”
Trey Lance fumbled a handoff to Jeremy McNichols and he later fumbled a snap, errors that weren’t necessarily his fault nor unexpected when he was rotating between the second- and third-string units. Jon Feliciano and Nick Zakelj were the centers on those botched plays, as the 49ers struggle trying to find solid center options behind starter Jake Brendel.
Lance, however, got a chance in the two-minute drill while Sam Darnold did not. Lance moved the 49ers down to the 11-yard line, and a potential third-down touchdown pass sailed high past Chris Conley in the end zone after solid coverage by a Raiders cornerback. Lance ended with a nice move before tight end Cameron Latu dropped that final throw, a play Shanahan said should have resulted in a touchdown.
Darnold’s final throw in practice was an incompletion to Tay Martin, leading to a 47-yard field goal from Jake Moody.
McCaffrey, a Stanford star from 2014-16, is among those mourning the Pac-12’s demise amid so many universities entering their own conference-transfer portal.
“It’s sad, man. It’s really sad. The Pac-12 has been going on for over 100 years. I wish they could have made it work,” McCaffrey said. “We’ll see what happens. But football will continue to go on, obviously. I’m hoping Stanford and all those schools will make big runs and get big recruits
“It’s definitely a change. Anytime change comes, it can be scary. But it could be for the better, too. You never know. We’ll have to see how it plays out. But I’m going to miss watching Pac-12 football.”
Shanahan said he’s not foolish enough to trash talk Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby. Their first meeting, however, was a bit awkward, and Shanahan explained how that factored into Thursday’s cordial reunion.
“He’s as good as it gets, and I wanted to apologize to him, because we were kind of jerks to him in our interview when he came out of college,” Shanahan said. “He’s really one of the coolest players dudes I’ve been around or seen, and he’s one of the best players in this league, so it’s cool to catch up with him.”
How were the 49ers jerks?
“It was (defensive line coach Kris) Kocurek’s first interview, and he’d been in other places where they liked to kind of attack the guys a little bit, see if you can rattle them. That’s not totally our style,” Shanahan recalled. “That was the first one up. John (Lynch) was trying to touch his leg, like: ‘Kris, chill out a little bit.’ Afterward, he was, ‘What, what did I do? Sorry. My last coach really wanted me to do it that way.’ And he did it to like the coolest dude. So we tell him that was all Kris, not us.”
How did Maxx react?
“He was a stud. He didn’t care at all. He didn’t waver. He handled it as well as anyone could.”
After making a play Thursday, it was Crosby’s turn to dish some heat, to which he said: “I was hyped and talking (crap) to Kyle, and he’s laughing at me. I went up to him after the play and he was like ‘Yeah, man, I feel like a (jerk) about our interview we had in 2020.’ . … It’s nothing against them. I feel like every single team that I interviewed with didn’t take me seriously. I could name every damn team if I want, but I’m not going to do that.”
“Kyle Shanahan is an incredible coach, the dude is literally one of the best play callers in the game so I got a massive amount of respect for him,” Corsby added. “We played against him last year and they gave me all type of looks and all type of things and that’s what we were talking about today. What he does is definitely unique and I got nothing but respect for him. That’s the past, but I remember everything, trust me. I remember all those interviews, but that’s what makes me who I am today because at the end of the day, I carry every little scar. I won’t talk about a lot of it, but I keep everything noted. Literally everything.”