No doubt you’ve been reading practice reports here and elsewhere and seen things, both good and bad regarding the San Francisco 49ers. On Thursday for instance, wide receiver Dante Pettis had a catch which was subsequently stripped away by Tarvarius Moore. Of course the big debate is was that on Pettis or on Moore?
Or maybe you’ve read about quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo having a couple of so-so days on Thursday. Or Pierre Garçon not having a single catch two days into training camp, C.J. Beathard throwing dimes down the sidelines to Kendrick Bourne and having better days than Garoppolo, the offense as whole struggling Friday. Yep, some stuff has happened.
Take from it what you will. The best thing to take from it though? It’s been just that, the first two days. Sure, it’d be nice to see Garoppolo have a perfect day completing every pass, Pettis not getting the ball stripped out, or Garçon to have a catch. None of those things happened, and it means nothing but that they’re back after an offseason and are hitting the grind. The whole point of training camp is to have a said, “Camp of Training.” The San Francisco 49ers are not going to look like Super Bowl champions their first day or their second day, or even their second week perhaps. Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers threw an interception his first day of training camp and he’s one of the most professional and competitive quarterbacks out there.
Don’t worry about what they’re doing at the end of July, worry about what they’re doing in the middle of August. That’s when the pads have been on, they’ve had some time in the system, and consistencies can be locked in. Just because Garoppolo had an inconsistent couple of days these first two days, doesn’t mean he’s going to have a bad camp, just like Beathard’s good first couple of days mean he’s going to unseat Jimmy G as the starter. They’re interesting things to note, but it’s still a long training camp.
Keep your hands off the panic button for a week or two.