Wednesday's practice may have been the most entertaining practice of camp yet. The San Francisco 49ers spent a large portion of the session in the red zone, which led to several highlight-reel plays. Here's what you need to know from Day 6.
1. Let's start with the top plays from the red zone 1-on-1 drill:
- Richard Sherman was solid, winning all three of his reps. He's always excelled in the red zone, particularly against fade routes. He defended two such throws from Jimmy Garoppolo to Pierre Garçon. Both fell incomplete. Sherman broke one up while Garoppolo threw the other one out of bounds. Sherman's third rep was against Kendrick Bourne as the corner kept up stride-for-stride on an in cut from right to left.
- When he wasn't throwing at Sherman, Garoppolo was pretty much perfect. He threw dimes to Bourne, Aldrick Robinson, Dante Pettis and Aaron Burbridge. Many of the completions were made despite tough coverage.
- Max McCaffrey had two touchdowns, both coming on full-extension catches in tight coverage. Richie James and Steven Dunbar also had touchdowns.
- Jaquiski Tartt, Greg Mabin, Ahkello Witherspoon, D.J. Reed and Tarvarius Moore had impressive reps in coverage.
2. Continuing with highlights from the red zone 11-on-11 period:
- Garoppolo threw a fastball to Bourne for a 10-yard touchdown. The offensive line gave him a great pocket, and Bourne found a soft spot in the defense.
- Jeremiah Attaochu posted a would-be sack.
- Nick Mullens threw a short touchdown to tight end Ross Dwelley.
- Garoppolo found Matt Breida for a touchdown in the middle of the end zone.
- C.J. Beathard hit Pettis near the goal line. It may have been just short of a score in a real game, but it was a nice throw and catch all the same.
3. The offense ended practice with a bang. During a move-the-ball period, Garoppolo hit Pettis with a beautiful pass towards the left sideline to convert on 3rd-and-16. Pettis made a sliding catch to move the chains. A few plays later, Pettis beat Witherspoon deep and hauled in another perfect throw from Garoppolo for a 40-yard touchdown. The three horns that signal the end of practice blared just after Pettis crossed the goal line.
4. The defense had a strong practice as well. Shanahan said post practice that he didn't believe either side of the football "won" on Wednesday. The offense was kept out of the end zone for the most part during the full-team red zone work. The defense followed with three straight stops to open the move-the-ball period, one by the first-, second- and third-team defense.
5. Garoppolo found George Kittle for several long completions. He found his tight end deep down the middle and found a way to thread a pass over Malcolm Smith's outstretched arm. Kittle later recorded a snazzy one-handed catch down the right sideline.
6. Witherspoon recorded a PBU on a pass from Garoppolo to Pettis. It appears that he's improving on his ability to jam receivers at the line of scrimmage.
7. Rookie safety Terrell Williams stuffed Raheem Mostert on 3rd-and-1 during the move-the-ball period.
8. Tartt broke up Garoppolo's first pass of full-team work. Jimmy G was looking for Garçon deep left, but Tartt was able to retreat and make a play on the ball.
9. Breida had a big run to the right that drew a solid reaction from the fans on hand.
10. Garoppolo found Pettis and Kyle Juszczyk on two separate throws. Juszczyk collided with Adrian Colbert after his catch and was able to shrug off the safety before running downfield.
11. Tarvarus McFadden intercepted Mullens on a pass intended for Dunbar.
12. Jerick McKinnon had his daily handful of receptions during full-team drills
13. One lineup note, Erik Magnuson and Mike Person split first-team reps at right guard. Jonathan Cooper hasn't returned to full-team work yet, and Joshua Garnett is currently day-to-day with a knee injury.
