The San Francisco 49ers officially got training camp underway on Thursday, and it sure was a busy day -- or maybe it just seemed that way given the lack of news we've had over the past month or so. I hope all of you took the news from training camp and acted accordingly: you panicked in mass hysteria when something bad happened, and you overreacted and possibly talked some good trash when something good happened.
That's kind of what's supposed to happen during training camp, right? I was originally prepping a guide on how to react to news from training camp but I ran out of time before it all started. That sucks.
Anyway, whatever the case, I'm sure I'll find some time this time 'round to actually talk about the links for you guys. I'm sure there will be plenty, with plenty of repeats and things like that, because this is the time when we really want to get the opinions from all of the beat writers interspersed with the news. So if I missed anything (I will), post those links up in the comments.
Go Niners.
Obviously, we already knew that tight end Vernon Davis would be in camp and that right guard Alex Boone would not. That's a pretty significant disappointment when it comes to Boone, but I'm not going to fault him. He deserves a pay raise, I just don't think this is the right way to get one from the 49ers, personally. San Francisco isn't a team that's going to be bullied, kind of like the Seattle Seahawks, who aren't expected to pay Marshawn Lynch, who is holding out, big bucks. Whatever the case, the 49ers placed Boone on the reserve/did not report list on Wednesday. He is officially a holdout. | 49ers place Boone on reserve/did not report list (Maiocco)
The big news from practice itself was just how good rookie first-round pick Jimmie Ward looked in practice. Now, I'll once again note that this is training camp, and overreactions were totally expected, but the amount of Tweets that went out about how good he was performing has me buying into the hype just a little bit. He looked good out there on day one, and while he has a long way to go, this is always a great start. | First-round pick makes positive first impression (Branch)
How about some full-on training camp impressions? We've got a bunch of these, so I'll just go ahead and list them below:
49ers training camp practice No. 1: Vernon returns, Stevie shines, Jimmie is the anti-AJ (BA Sports Guy)
Camp Report Day 1: Renewed Optimism (Biderman)
Practice recap, Day 1: DB Hyde, TE McDonald make nice grabs; Culliver back in action (Inman)
49ers training camp Day 1: Ward flashes, offense flubs (Barrows)
Day 1: Ward intercepts pass on third play of 49ers practice (Maiocco)
49ers camp report: Jimmie Ward shines (Williamson)
49ers training camp practice recap, Day 1: Depth chart, Jimmie Ward and more (Some Jerk)
Most days, Jim Harbaugh barely tolerates the media. Most days, he'd rather be anywhere than talking to us -- and that's totally fine. On some days, he'll channel this into a great quote for its poignancy ... or its insanity. On Thursday, I'm not sure to what extent he wanted to get away from the media, but he definitely gave some pretty great quotes that would fall in the latter category. I don't even know what to say about this. He sure does say "womb" a lot, though. | Harbaugh camp-opening transcript: 'I was coaching my butt off' ... in terms of his kids' summer (Inman)
So yeah, we talked about it above: but Vernon Davis was at camp on Thursday. That's great -- Davis is an integral part to these team, even if I'm convinced he'll block way more in 2014-15, which is a waste of his talents, in my opinion. It's also totally expected, given that he removed 100 percent of the leverage in his argument by actually saying it wouldn't be a big deal if he got a new contract before. Whatever the case, Davis called reporting to camp a "very easy decision." Good deal. | Davis: Reporting to camp 'easy decision' (Maiocco)
Frank Gore likes the football in his hands. If you didn't know this, then you don't know anything about Frank Gore. He'll be the good veteran and show the young guys the ropes, and he'll be a mentor when he needs to be. But when it comes to actually competing for carries, Gore will fight for every last one. I personally haven't witnessed this "slowdown" that people suggest Gore is going through, but I suppose we'll see. My money is on him carrying the ball just as much as he has been in 2014-15. | In 10th season, 49ers running back Frank Gore isn't ready to slow down yet (Barrows)
I sincerely hope Aldon Smith is sober like he says he is. I don't know what happened with the LAX incident and it's none of my business at this point. I don't like people who get behind the wheel of a giant hunk of metal when they're inebriated, but I also know people make mistakes. So when I read that he's saying sobriety is the reason he's in the best shape of his life, I'm hoping that this is actually the case. At this point, we need a win sometime, don't we? Justin Blackmon and Josh Gordon are destroying their careers, Ray Rice just got a two-game suspension for beating a woman, and it sure would be nice if rehab actually works out and Smith becomes the player everyone here wants him to be. | 49ers' Smith credits sobriety with being in best shape of life (Maiocco)
All that said, I'm very interested to see what the league does with Smith. I'm guessing he'll get a suspension of at least four games, though obviously the stint in rehab probably helps his case, as we've been talking about for months. Whatever the case, Smith says he plans to meet with Roger Goodell in the near future, so hopefully we have some clarity on the situation sooner rather than later. | 49ers notes: Aldon Smith plans to meet with Goodell in the 'near future' (Barrows)
RB Lattimore still dealing with 2012 knee injury (Branch)
Justin Smith is Fully Armed for 2014 (NBC Bay Area)
Gore not ready to relinquish workload with 49ers (Maiocco)
Vernon Davis: I'm In It To Win It (49ers)