The San Francisco 49ers wrapped up their first day of rookie minicamp on Friday, and while we may not learn a lot about the players, the big upside to minicamp is more photos available from Getty and AP! There were 20 pictures from Friday's practice, and I figured I'd put them together in the gallery up above.
There are a few pictures that I find particularly interesting for one reason or another. The third picture is one of Tank Carradine meeting with the media. Without him even saying a word, is anybody just a little intimidated by that picture? Carradine is attending, but not practicing due to his ACL recovery. Coach Harbaugh did tell the press Carradine was further along than Marcus Lattimore, but he is still taking it easy in preparation for training camp. Of course, he does get the benefit of playbook study, so he is not missing out there.
Quinton Patton makes a couple appearances in the gallery. Coach Harbaugh indicated Patton is the only rookie who will not be able to stick around this week, as he is finishing up some school responsibilities. The rest of the rookies will be full-time with the team moving forward, but I believe Patton will be back next weekend.
We've got three pictures of defensive lineman Lawrence Okoye. Two are on the field and one is meeting with the press. The first one of Okoye shows him working with defensive line coach Jim Tomsula. He has so much basic technique to learn that I have to imagine he will basically be attached at the hip to Coach Tomsula, and probably Justin Smith as well.
Vance McDonald shows up wearing No. 89, which was Mike Ditka's number when he was a tight end. It's easy to forget that before he was a well-known head coach, Mike Ditka was a great tight end in his day. Jim Harbaugh assigned 89 to McDonald in honor of Coach Ditka. Harbaugh apparently texted Ditka about it, but didn't hear back. Harbaugh said he wasn't sure if he had the right number.
Marcus Lattimore makes an appearance after that. Lattimore is not practicing, but he too gets to learn the playbook and observe. It appears he is wearing a sleeve on his right knee, although I'm not 100% positive. I imagine once he is in pads, whenever that is, he'll be wearing a brace of some sort.
Finally, we had a pair of Nate Montana pictures. One is an action shot, and one is him meeting with the media. Montana joins B.J. Daniels as the two primary rookie quarterback prospects. Both are facing uphill battles, but as Coach Harbaugh said on Friday, "A journey of a thousand steps starts with the first step."