Recapping Day 1 of minicamp: Rough day for the wide receivers

It was a sloppy first practice for the San Francisco 49ers on Tuesday. The offense kept putting the ball on the ground, whether it was from dropped passes or fumbling. Usually, you’d like practice to end on a high note. Today’s practice ended on a missed field goal. That kicker was not named Robbie Gould, who won’t be at tomorrow’s practice, either.

Speaking of Gould, head coach Kyle Shanahan didn’t seem too worried about his absence.

“I’d much rather Robbie, be here and doing everything. If he doesn’t want to show up until Week 1, it is what it is. I’ll take a very good kicker anytime. Whether it’s Week 1, or it’s third down right before we have to kick. I just hope he shows up by the time we play Week 1.”

Injury news

Mike McGlinchey didn’t practice today. Shanahan said that was the plan all along. He had a scheduled platelet-rich plasma (PRP) treatment on his knee. He should be ready for training camp. Shanahan believes it’s minor. Joe Staley was limited today as well. Staley is dealing with a pectoral strain.

Deebo Samuel didn’t practice today, either. Samuel suffered a tweaked groin, so the team held him out. Samuel hasn’t practiced the last two weeks. Again, it doesn’t appear to be serious.

The reason Garrett Celek hasn’t cleared the concussion protocol is that the team has to practice in pads for him to go through the protocol. That doesn’t matter, as Shanahan mentioned Celek had back surgery and will be out at least two months.

QB2 race is neck and neck

C.J. Beathard spoke with the media after practice. Beathard mentioned how he and Nick Mullens are very close off the field and hang out all of the time. That makes it easier and allows them to keep the competition between the white lines. He was talking about how often they golf. Beathard wasn’t so kind about Max McCaffrey’s golf skills.

He mentioned how quarterbacks coach Shane Day, and passing game coordinator Mike LaFleur have been working on improving Beathard’s pocket presence. There wasn’t a live pass-rush, but C.J. did hit Marquise Goodwin deep for a big play during practice today.

Shanahan maintained the fact that both quarterbacks are even at this point. He also said it doesn’t matter because the hope is Jimmy Garoppolo is healthy all season. That was refreshing to hear. Shanahan did say that both have played at a high level.

As for Garoppolo, he participated in a two-minute drill today. That’s progress. It wasn’t 11-on-11. It was 11-on-7, as Garoppolo still hasn’t been cleared for contact, so Shanahan didn’t put a pass rush out there. He had Goodwin on a deep shot—I don’t remember who was covering him off the top of my head—but Jimmy G missed Goodwin. He also missed Pettis down the field as well. One thing is certain: Garoppolo has plenty of zip on the ball.

Plays/Player of the day

Ahkello Witherspoon had a nice pass breakup against Richie James defensively.

Jordan Matthews went up and high-pointed a pass for a touchdown.

Goodwin was the player of the day. He is a tough cover for the secondary. Shanahan downplayed that during his press conference, though. Shanahan mentioned how Goodwin is always tough to cover in the spring because he is healthy and fresh now.