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Brandon Aiyuk looked so smooth, so comfortable, so much like a playful easy receiver worthy of a first round draft.
Aiyuk slipped on the left sideline, got a step past cornerback Jason Verrett, and did not break the goal causing a catch over the shoulder on a 50-yard touchdown pass from Jimmy Garoppolo.
Around the same time Sunday, in the 49ers’ second practice of training camp, a completely opposite scene developed. Jalen Hurd went down while working on the sidelines with a trainer, and again raised concerns about Hurd’s health after a back fracture cost him his smoking season.
Four weeks remain until the 49ers’ planned opener, and they need their wide receivers to step up this camp quickly, especially Aiyuk.
“He’s a fast learner,” Arizona State coach Herm Edwards recently told me about the former Sun Devils star.
“They’ll build packages for him until he learns the system,” Edwards said. “It simply came to our notice then. It’s a lot of confusion. In his first year, he will be placed in places to use his talents. ”
As eager as anyone to see the comebacks of Hurd and lock specialist Trent Taylor, Aiyuk was positioned as the ideal wingman for Deebo Samuel, who the 49ers hope can return from foot surgery in time for the season.
After Aiyuk’s 50-yard, graceful snap in 7-on-7 drills, he made two more catches on Garoppolo passes across the middle, with so much ease.
Expectations are certainly inflated by optimistic signs early in training camp, and Aiyuk’s start qualifies.
“He caught a catch at McQueen (High-Reno) in the far north zone, very similar to OBJ, one-handed catch, dragged his foot,” said Jim Snelling, Aiyuk’s former cop at McQueen High-Reno. “The official whipped him out of bounds, but local news channel recorders still showed images of the capture and it was a good capture.”
Aiyuk compared, when he was generally 25, his playing style compared to Odell Beckham, the Cleveland Browns star for whom the 49ers have tried unsuccessfully in recent years to trade.
Coach Kyle Shanahan promoted instead of running day instead of Aiyuk’s versatility as best way to replace Emmanuel Sanders, the savior of last season’s trade deadline. He is not stuck in the role of the first string, at least not yet, because veterans Kendrick Bourne and Dante Pettis are lying there for now.
Aiyuk is not yet available for comment at camp. After his impressive practice debut Saturday, Shanahan praised his attention to detail and pro-ready stature.
“He’s not one you have to teach how to act or learn how important it is to learn this game,” Shanahan said. “You can tell he’s been working and that’s why he’s ahead, I think there would be a lot of rookies right now.”
Taylor ended, complimenting Aiyuk and fellow rookie Jauan Jennings for their intelligence and playing ability. “From what we’ve seen so far, he takes everything really well and it can be a great piece for us,” Taylor said.
Taylor actually wondered about Jennings’ work in Sunday’s one-on-one bottom line: “Great plays, he ran some dirty routes out there and it shocked us all the type of route skill he has.”
Exciting as a rookie is a tough task that Samuel completed last season, and although Aiyuk and Jennings may do the same, Taylor’s comeback is watching. He underwent foot surgery in August last year, and then needed four follow-up procedures to cure an infection that he is understandably bitter about, because it cost him a Super Bowl run.
Taylor has not been medically cleared to attend games even last season, and reminds Taylor of driving into his 800-square-foot apartment, wanting to come back and show why he can be as stubborn as he was in Jimmy Garoppolo debuted in December 2017. “I’m by far Jimmy’s favorite target, despite what George (Kittle) is telling someone else,” Taylor said.
On Sunday, however, it was Aiyuk who beat Garoppolo’s no. 1 goal was, and the 49ers bench on more days like that.
REMARKS
– The 49ers did not have an update on Hurd after the practice. For the second straight day, he took part in the first half of the exercise before returning to do individual fitness with a trainer.
– Offensive lineman Spencer Long is retired. He was signed last week and served as the center of the second string on Saturday. Top remaining candidates on right guard and center are Ben Garland, Daniel Brunskill, Tom Compton, Ross Reynolds and Colton McKivitz, while Weston Richburg is recovering from knee surgery.
– Jerick McKinnon runs back and said that his comeback “so, so well. It’s been a long time coming. He missed the past two seasons with a straight knee injury, and he looked sharp through two practices, and on Sunday he showed his specialty in getting passes from the backfield.
McKinnon, who arrived in 2018 on a $ 30 million contract, agreed to reduce this base salary to $ 910,000 this season. But why? ‘It was not a big deal for me. It was proof why I belong here, came back on the field and showed my talents, ”said McKinnon.
– Monday marks the 49ers’ first, full contact practice in pads. ‘That’s the main point of the game, put pads. That’s when you can show what you can do, ”said linebacker Kwon Alexander.
– After Nick Bosa lost his footing in a one-on-one drill with left tackle Trent Williams, Bosa roared back into the team drills and again put pressure on Quarterbacks, often facing other defensive end Dee Ford in ‘ t backfield.
– Top draft pick Javon Kinlaw went toe-to-toe in the power department with guard Laken Tomlinson holding his own pretty well. Nose-wielding DJ Jones called Kinlaw “strong as an ox”, and McKinnon echoed Bosa’s earlier statement by describing Kinlaw as one of the greatest people he has ever seen.
– Kinlaw and Solomon Thomas benefit from more reps with Arik Armstead sidelined a second straight day by tightness.
– Safety Marcell Harris interpreted one of Garoppolo’s reversals Sunday, the only interception of the defense by two days of practice.
