The San Francisco 49ers on Wednesday held their last of two practices in Santa Clara this week. The team will board a plane to the Denver area on Wednesday afternoon, have Thursday off, and then practice with the Broncos on Friday and Saturday.
Meanwhile, the Broncos have Wednesday off and will hold three practices, including the two with the 49ers, from Thursday through Saturday.
The two teams will play each other during an exhibition game at Mile High Stadium on Monday night.
Quick Notes
The defense has struggled to get interceptions, but that changed on Wednesday. QB Jimmy Garoppolo threw five on as many consecutive pass attempts before finally breaking the streak with a touchdown pass to WR Jalen Hurd. The recipients on defense were S Tarvarius Moore, who had two, CB Richard Sherman, S Jaquiski Tartt, and CB Ahkello Witherspoon. One of Moore's was returned for a would-be touchdown.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan was asked about Garoppolo's uncharacteristic performance and the interceptions he threw.
"He threw it to the wrong team five plays in a row," Shanahan said when asked to explain what he thought occurred. "I was the defensive coach today, so I was pumped (said somewhat jokingly). The defense did great today, and obviously, he struggled.
"You hope to never have a day like that, but I don't think it's never not happened to anyone. When you do that, you hope you can practice long enough, and give him a chance to play out of it, and use it as an opportunity that hopefully, you can do in a game.
"Hopefully, you don't have five in a game, but you can play yourself out of two in a row or something like that."
Shanahan said Garoppolo played better toward the end of practice during two-minute drills. The coach won't decide how long the starting quarterback plays against the Broncos until Sunday.
QB C.J. Beathard returned to practice after missing Tuesday's session. He injured his thumb on a player's helmet during Saturday night's win over the Dallas Cowboys. Beathard is expected to be the first quarterback on the field after Garoppolo is done.
DB Jimmie Ward, who is playing free safety this season, returned to practice after being limited in recent weeks as he recovered from a fractured collarbone suffered in May. He is competing with Tarvarius Moore and Adrian Colbert for the starting free safety job. Ward took part in individual drills but not team drills.
"We know Jimmie is going to hit every single second he has a chance to, so we've got to protect him from himself a little bit," Shanahan said.
DE Ronald Blair and WR Deebo Samuel returned to practice.
Injuries
LB Dre Greenlaw left Tuesday's practice early because of a stinger. He joined his teammates on Wednesday wearing a blue no-contact jersey.
T Joe Staley ended his practice after individual drills because of some soreness in his pectoral muscle.
DE Nick Bosa was seen doing light conditioning work with team trainers.
"Not wearing boot," Cam Inman of Bay Area News Group wrote via Twitter. "Walking slowly on ankle he sprained 8 days ago. Week 1 doesn't seem out of question."
Limited in practice: T Joe Staley (pectoral), DB Jimmie Ward (collarbone)
Did not practice: TE George Kittle (calf), CB Greg Mabin (calf), RB Raheem Mostert (concussion), DT Jullian Taylor (back), TE Levine Toilolo (shoulder)
Still out: DE Nick Bosa (ankle sprain), Edge Dee Ford (knee tendinitis), G Joshua Garnett (finger), DT D.J. Jones (knee), LB Elijah Lee (thumb), RB Jerick Mckinnon (knee), WR Trent Taylor (foot), CB Jason Verrett (ankle sprain), CB K'Waun Williams (knee)
PUP: TE Garrett Celek (back, concussion), C Weston Richburg (knee)
Wednesday's Practice Reports
The following are in the order in which they were posted.
Matt Maiocco, NBC Sports Bay Area
49ers camp report: Jimmy Garoppolo in giving mood against 49ers' defense
Takeaways: QB Nick Mullens threw a 49-yard touchdown pass to WR Kendrick Bourne in two-minute drills. Tartt's interception off a Garoppolo pass came after LB Kwon Alexander deflected the pass. The second of Moore's two interceptions would have been a 100-yard return for a touchdown in a game. His other pick came off a pass intended for RB Matt Breida. Sherman's interception was intended for TE Ross Dwelley while Witherspoon's was intended for WR Dante Pettis. DL Arik Armstead beat rookie T Justin Skule for a would-be sack.
Cam Inman and Curtis Pashelka, Bay Area News Group
49ers camp: Defense intercepts Garoppolo five passes in a row
Takeaways: A breakdown of each Garoppolo interception.
Grant Cohn, Santa Rosa Press Democrat
The good and not so good: Day 13 — Garoppolo throws five interceptions
Takeaways: Garoppolo, Staley, Skule, Kittle, and the pre-snap penalties make up Grant's "not so good" list. The defensive backs who came away with Garoppolo-thrown interceptions, along with QB Nick Mullens, and WRs Jordan Matthews, Kendrick Bourne, Richie James, and Jalen Hurd made up the "good" list. Mullens was 10-of-14 passing and even scrambled for a touchdown in the red zone.
Eric Branch, San Francisco Chronicle
49ers' practice report: Garoppolo has INT-INT-INT-INT-INT stretch
Takeaways: Another breakdown of Garoppolo's interception-filled practice. He later completed 4-of-6 passes during a two-minute drill and got the offense to the six-yard line with 10 seconds remaining. Tartt, however, broke up a pass intended for Matthews at the one-yard line to end the practice. Garoppolo was 12-of-25 passing and had two touchdowns in red-zone drills. One to Hurd and the other to FB Kyle Juszczyk.
Chris Biderman, Sacramento Bee
49ers Practice Recap: Jimmy Garoppolo tosses five straight interceptions
Takeaways: Another breakdown of Garoppolo's interceptions. His later pass to Matthews during two-minute drills was a "well-thrown deep corner route that put the offense in the red zone." Garoppolo started team drills going 7-of-9 before things fell apart. James had a strong day catching the ball. Biderman had Garoppolo finishing 14-of-26.
Keiana Martin, 49ers.com
16 Observations from 49ers 2019 Training Camp: Aug 14
Takeaways: LB LaRoy Reynolds broke up a touchdown pass from Mullens intended for TE Kaden Smith. Dwelley made back-to-back receptions during full team action. Hurd connected on each of his four targets. Both DL Solomon Thomas and DL Kentavius Street had one would-be sack each and several pressures.
On Social Media
#49ers Jimmy Garoppolo had 5 consecutive passes intercepted, by Moore (2), Sherman, Tartt, Whitherspoon
Broke streak with TD to Jalen Hurd
— Cam Inman (@CamInman) August 14, 2019
It was a rough practice for Jimmy Garoppolo. He interceptions on five consecutive pass attempts. Jaquiski Tartt (tip by Kwon Alexander), Tarvarius Moore(twice), Richard Sherman and Ahkello Witherspoon picked him off.
— Matt Maiocco (@MaioccoNBCS) August 14, 2019
Garoppolo rallied at the end with a two-minute drive. His last throw at the goal line was nearly picked by Tartt but squirted through and into Jordan Matthews' hands.
— Matt Barrows (@mattbarrows) August 14, 2019
QB Nick Mullens was mostly sharp, including a deep ball to WR Kendrick Bourne for a long TD late in move the ball drill. Hit Bourne for a pair of other completions and also was on target to Richie James (x2) and Jalen Hurd. Mullens also scrambled for a would-be TD.
— Nick Wagoner (@nwagoner) August 14, 2019
FS Tarvarius Moore continues to make strides every day. He had the two interceptions in team drills today. One was woefully under thrown but the other he made a good read, timed the pass and jumped the route for what likely would've been a long return. Continues to work with 1s.
— Nick Wagoner (@nwagoner) August 14, 2019