The San Francisco 49ers returned to practice on Sunday following a day off on Saturday. It marked the first of two final practices at the SAP Performance Facility that will close 49ers camp. After Monday's practice, the team will board a plane and take off for Houston. Here's what you need to know from Sunday.
1. Let's start with some unfortunate injury news. Jerick McKinnon suffered a knee injury midway through practice. He didn't appear to be in a ton of pain, but there was some obvious concern. He got checked out by the medical staff with John Lynch hovering nearby. McKinnon later got up and rejoined his teammates but was shut down for the rest of practice. He's getting an MRI on his right knee today. Fingers crossed it's nothing serious. UPDATE: ESPN's Adam Schefter has reported that McKinnon just has a muscle strain. Another big-time exhale from the 49ers.
2. Richard Sherman returned to individual drills, which would lead me to believe that his hamstring is progressing ahead of schedule. Kyle Shanahan said on Friday that the plan was to keep Sherman out this entire week.
3. McKinnon and Raheem Mostert each had a long run during practice.
4. D.J. Reed intercepted C.J. Beathard over the middle. Beathard tried to force a pass into double coverage and Reed made him pay.
5. Jimmy Garoppolo's best throw of the day was a deep ball down the left sideline to Aldrick Robinson. The 40-yard completion set up a Robbie Gould field goal during a move-the-ball period.
6. Jimmie Ward had a nice practice, which was a good sign following a few poor reps against the Dallas Cowboys last Thursday. Ward's best play was a diving pass breakup while running stride-for-stride with Pierre Garçon on a deep crossing route.
7. Sheldon Day checked in with a would-be sack. That feels like a daily occurrence for him. DeForest Buckner, Jeremiah Attaochu and Elijah Lee all had impressive run stops.
8. Trent Taylor made his debut in team drills. He and Garoppolo connected on one deep crossing route in which Taylor made a nice full-extension grab. They were unable to connect on a few other shots downfield.
9. The defense dominated the red-zone team period. Reuben Foster and Ahkello Witherspoon had pass breakups.
10. Beathard engineered an impressive touchdown drive during the final move-the-ball period. He found Aaron Burbridge, Richie James and Dante Pettis for big gains. A short touchdown pass to Ross Dwelley capped the drive.
11. Pita Taumoepenu received some first-team reps at SAM linebacker with Eli Harold still nursing a knee contusion.
