Pierre Garçon has not had an opportunity to take an in-game snap with quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo. In fact, until this offseason, the veteran receiver had not even practiced with Garoppolo. The day before the 49ers acquired Garoppolo via a trade with the New England Patriots, Garçon sustained a neck injury during a game against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Four days later, general manager John Lynch announced that Garçon would be placed on injured reserve.
Following the season, head coach Kyle Shanahan was excited to get his most experienced receiver back. Garçon was on pace for his third career 1,000-yard season before his injury. Through eight games last year, he led the 49ers with 40 receptions for 500 yards – all without Garoppolo throwing him a single pass.
"It was a huge challenge when we lost Pierre halfway through the year, especially with him being the veteran of that group, one of the only guys who had ever started before," 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said in January.
Being completely healthy, Garçon finally has an opportunity to build some on-the-field chemistry with his quarterback and has been using every practice session to do so.
"It's been good for them to get to play with each other," Shanahan said on Tuesday. "Saw a lot of film from the cut-ups and stuff that we were trying to teach Jimmy with, but didn't really know him as a person. And it's been a good process for them to get here, spend some time together, get to know each other, go through all of the reps of having some successful ones, some bad ones, stuff they can talk about.
"Some days are better than others, but they're getting to know each other. I think it'll be good going into training camp and it'll definitely be nice to have Pierre back this year."
Garoppolo was asked last week what it has been like having a nice security blanket like Garçon on the practice field.
"Yeah, that's a good way to put it," the quarterback responded. "You know exactly what you're going to get. P is as reliable as they come. He has that veteran mentality of he knows exactly what to do. He's going to help you out, do whatever he can to put you in good situation as the quarterback."
The 49ers have their final minicamp practice this afternoon. Thursday will be used as a "family day" for the players before they break for nearly six weeks until training camp.