The San Francisco 49ers are a day away from suiting up for the first preseason game against the Dallas Cowboys. With each passing day, the goal is to improve and prepare for the opening weekend of the regular season against the Minnesota Vikings.

Here are some highlights, an injury report and three takeaways from the 49ers’ practice on Tuesday, August 7.

Highlights

• QB Jimmy Garoppolo likely had his best throw of the entire training camp on Tuesday. Most highlight clips have shown the 49ers’ quarterback hit wide receivers on all types of throws — the caveat being that the receivers gained a lot of separation from their defenders. Tuesday’s throw to WR Aldrick Robinson split two defenders and landed right in his hands.

• WR Aldrick Robinson’s name was barely mentioned during the first two-and-a-half weeks at training camp, but the veteran pass catcher had his best practice on Tuesday. After catching a touchdown in between two defenders, — see highlight above — Robinson made a grab on a deep route that resulted in another house call. The 49ers’ account captioned this highlight perfectly, as the real success will be to replicate this play against the Cowboys — not just execute it in practice.

• WR Trent Taylor is starting to re-acclimate himself with the 49ers’ defenders, making sure they know what he’s fully capable of, as he returns from injury. Taylor did his best Odell Beckham Jr. impression on Tuesday, making a one-handed grab look trivial.

Injury Report

Here are the new additions to the practice injury report before Tuesday:

• LT Joe Staley (Rest)
• WR Pierre Garçon (Rest)
• DL Earl Mitchell (Rest)
• G Laken Tomlinson (Rest)

Takeaways

• In advance of the first preseason game, Kyle Shanahan’s offense was working on it’s two-minute offense on Tuesday. Per team reporter Joe Fann, it was one of QB Jimmy Garoppolo’s best drives during camp. The drive resulted in a 26-yard throw to WR Aldrick Robinson in the end zone, which landed as one of Tuesday’s highlights.

The best situational teams are the teams that typically play into late January and February every season. It was one of the aspects that the 49ers needed to improve upon with Shanahan and Garoppolo getting a full offseason. Before San Francisco officially suits up on Thursday, it seems like they are well ahead of where they were in 2017.

• Richard Sherman’s impact on this team is going to be far greater than what happens on the field in 2018. Sherman’s greatest skill isn’t his lock-down defensive ability, it’s actually his football acumen, gained over seasons of playing against the best of the best.

During meetings, the 49ers’ defensive backs have assigned seats. Rookie DBs Tarvarius Moore and D.J. Reed are sandwiched next to Sherman, trying to gain as much knowledge as possible from the veteran. The future defensive stars are gaining invaluable football IQ from Sherman, something that will go beyond what the ex-Stanford DB does on the field in 2018.

For what it’s worth, Sherman’s helping fellow fifth-round pick D.J. Reed with his finances as well. On and off the field, Sherman is spreading the wealth to the 49ers’ rookies.

• If fans want to watch QB Jimmy Garoppolo and the first-team offense, they will need to tune into Thursday’s preseason game pretty early. Per Kyle Shanahan, the starting offense will play “somewhat” into the first quarter.

Typically, the first two preseason games, the starters only play the first quarter at most. It’s not until the third game, do fans get a real taste of the starters — as it’s the rehearsal game. Shanahan will likely follow suit, only allowing Garoppolo to operate for one to two series at most. If San Francisco’s offense has a successful opening drive, there’s a good chance they don’t return to the field at all. So tune in right at kick-off.

Beat writer recaps

• Chris Biderman — “49ers practice recap: Aldrick Robinson makes big plays for Jimmy Garoppolo”
• Matt Barrows — “49ers practice report: Shanahan talks preseason snaps; Robinson goes deep“
• Matt Maiocco — “49ers camp report: Garoppolo, fellow starters to play at least one series“
• Cam Inman — “Top 10 highlights from 49ers camp Tuesday“
• Grant Cohn — “Day 11: The good and not so good from training camp“