SANTA CLARA – Calling the beginning of football season “training camp” is too soft, regardless of today’s gentler NFL guidelines. The 49ers are starting an intense workshop this week, prompting The Faithful to file these questions into our social-media huddle:
When does camp open? I forgot. (@dough_boy_408)
Ahem, their month-long workshop officially opens Tuesday for all veterans, a week after rookies reported. Full pads and contact are not allowed until after the first four practices.
What is something you are most excited about looking into this season? (@morales_r0j0)
The reboot of both Christian McCaffrey’s offensive output and Robert Saleh’s defensive leadership. The first two road trips to Seattle and New Orleans. The quarter-billion-dollar quarterback. The further away we all get from 2024. And the ultimate finish: a Levi’s Stadium Super Bowl on Feb. 8, with or without the home team.
Will the Niners sign Jauan Jennings to a long-term contract, which I believe he’s earned? (@ljmb127)
He’d like to know that, also. After a career-best season, he is entering the final year of his contract, and I suspect he’ll get another two- or three-year extension, at perhaps halfway to Brandon Aiyuk’s $30 million-per-year stratosphere.
Will Jennings and Aiyuk both be on the team after Game 5 this season? Asking for a friend. (@TreeBark46)
Yes on Jennings if an extension is done this camp. Aiyuk may not make his debut until after that fifth game; if he starts the season on the Physically Unable To Perform list, he’s out the first four games, and because Week 5 is a Thursday game at the Rams, the 49ers may prefer he get a full week of practice before a debut in Week 6 at Tampa Bay.
Hello Cam. With all the question marks at WR, could the front office make a push for Keenan Allen or Amari Cooper? (@Chucho_723)
They could, especially if they detect Jennings might hold out of practices for a big chunk of camp. But that would go against this offseason’s mission to get younger and cheaper.
Is CMC going to get a reasonable amount of touches so he doesn’t get hurt? (@dci24sc)
That, to me, is the No. 1 question for this camp, seeing how crucial he is to the offensive production once the season starts. “We’ve got to kind of protect him from himself,” coach Kyle Shanahan said May 29.
Who are the projected secondary starters? (@andrew.liu.87)
Entering camp, Deommodore Lenoir and Renardo Green are the starting cornerbacks, with Upton Stout or Tre Brown at nickel back, while Jason Pinnock and a presumably healthy Ji’Ayir Brown are at safety. Only Lenoir is a lock. Let the competitions begin!
Hi Cam. First, I’m knee deep in your book (“The Franchise”) on the curated history of the Niners and really enjoying it. How do you see LBs playing out — Winters on obvious passing and Martin on run? (@lowbridge)
First, thanks for reading — and writing. The 49ers could rotate Dee Winters and Nick Martin, but that’s not the preferred method to establish consistency next to Fred Warner. I’d expect Winters to open camp as the weak-side starter, and Martin will be tested to see if he’s capable of that spot or the strong-side, part-time role. Winters and Martin are fast, so they need to show which has a better grasp of pass-coverage concepts and run-fit rules.
Do the 49ers have a “culture issue” when it comes to contracts, the way the team approaches negotiations, and the way players feel they can utilize leverage? (@jefegolfs)
Contract disputes are an annual summer tradition throughout the NFL. The 49ers actually bucked that trend this year by hammering out extensions for Brock Purdy, George Kittle and Warner before the offseason program ended. Jennings and right tackle Colton McKivitz are each slated for 2025 free agency, so those contract issues are hovering.
Who will you be watching the most and why? (@michael_budd)
The trick to watching camp is to watch, well, all 90 players. In 2022, we didn’t see Purdy take more than a few reps each practice, so it was tough, at least for me, to predict his star turn. Each rep counts for something for everyone.
Does Rourke stay on IR this season? (@Gambowler)
Quarterback Kurtis Rourke is only six months into his anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction, and there is no reason to rush the seventh-round rookie into action. A medical redshirt season seems likely. Mac Jones and Tanner Mordecai are positioned as Purdy’s backups in 2025.
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What might be a surprising storyline coming out of 49ers training camp? (@MrEd315)
A retirement, but I don’t expect one, not from Trent Williams. Camp always produces injuries, and a pleasant surprise would be if the 49ers avoid any serious ones.
Can you give more Nick Bosa content and videos? (@postlomai)
Bosa indeed is a social media superstar and that traffic won’t ease as he enters his seventh season. My day job, however, is not to pap Bosa (slang for photographing one in paparazzi style). I’ll do my best to share whatever images I capture on Instagram and YouTube.
Would Brock Purdy prefer tri-tip from Firestone or Old San Luis? (@paulmateo707)
Should Purdy find himself in San Luis Obispo’s tri-tip paradise, his first progression depends on which end of Higuera Street he finds himself, whether it’s closer to the Firestone institution that’s ensconced in sports memorabilia or Old SLO’s scrumptious sourdough rolls.