SANTA CLARA – Veteran wide receiver Pierre Garçon was not involved in the 49ers’ five-game, season-concluding win streak.
He was already on injured reserve with a neck injury when Jimmy Garoppolo came riding to the rescue. Garçon’s skills would appear to be a nice fit for Garoppolo’s strengths of getting rid of the ball quickly and surgical accuracy on underneath throws.
Yet, it was not until Sunday’s practice that was some evidence of Garoppolo and Garçon working together. They did not come close when Garoppolo made a back-shoulder throw to Garçon, who kept running. But the two later connected on a couple of passes during 11-on-11 drills, as they continue to work on their chemistry. Garçon is a savvy 10-year veteran who caught 40 passes for 500 yards in eight games last season with the 49ers.
“Jimmy’s a great quarterback,” Garçon said. “I’m definitely happy we got Jimmy as our quarterback, and our receivers are working harder and everybody’s excited. It’s very exciting to have Jimmy.”
Garçon is an established possession receiver, and Marquise Goodwin is the deep threat on the outside. Garoppolo and Goodwin remained after practice on Saturday to work on their timing on long throws. And one-on-one drills opened with Garoppolo connecting with Goodwin on a go-route against Richard Sherman.
Garoppolo and Goodwin hooked up another time early in the 11-on-11 session.
