With organized team activities (OTAs) over, the 49ers enter the final phase of their offseason program this week with a three-day mandatory minicamp.
Following full-squad practices on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, the players and coaches will next gather at training camp in July.
This week, head coach Kyle Shanahan and his coaching staff will get more intense looks at some of the rookies trying to win starting jobs — offensive tackle Mike McGlinchey, linebacker Fred Warner and wide receiver Dante Pettis — and veterans coming back from injury, such as guard Joshua Garnett and wide receiver Pierre Garcon, along with veteran free agents added since the end of the 2017 season like center Weston Richburg (already hailed by Shanahan as a leader on the offensive line) and former Seahawks All-Pro cornerback Richard Sherman.
To quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, this week is a chance to take preparations for 2018 to the next level, with everyone participating.
“I think the team is making a lot of progress in a lot of different areas,” Garoppolo said last week at the end of OTAs. “It’s been good competition between the offense and defense, which you love to see this time of year.”
A year ago at this time, Garoppolo was Tom Brady’s backup with the New England Patriots. Now, he’s the 49ers offensive leader. Though he had success last season after coming to San Francisco, Garoppolo says this offseason work with the coaches and players has been just what he wanted.
Every day, every meeting, every practice he’s more familiar with Shanahan’s system and his teammates.
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“Last year, not that I was handcuffed, but I just didn’t know some of the reasons why we were doing things,” he told reporters. “It was just kind of a ‘get by this Sunday and we’ll tell you everything else in the offseason’ type of thing. I think learning the whys has definitely helped me. I still have a long way to go. … It’s a work in progress, but it’s coming along.”
Team dates for summer training camp have not yet officially been announced.
