Sergio Estrada-USA TODAY Sports
Third-year wide receiver
Dante Pettis acknowledged that last season didn't go as he had hoped. He has accepted much of the blame for his performance.
Right now, the San Francisco 49ers wideout is focused on this season, and last month shared his goals for 2020. And they don't include passing yards, touchdowns, or any other statistical feat.
"To play free, without anything holding me back,"
Pettis said. "... Going in every day, and getting to a point to where, coming into practice or the weight room or whatever, getting to a point to where I know that I got better ... You need to get to the breaking point each day and get past that. That's kind of how I would measure my goals for this year."
Pettis has impressed his coaches since the start of training camp. That's good because his number may come up on Sunday during the 49ers' opener against the Arizona Cardinals. The chances of that happening may increase, depending on the statuses of
Deebo Samuel (foot) and
Brandon Aiyuk (hamstring). Both are returning from injuries.
"With two receivers being day-to-day, we're ready for any situation with the receivers," head coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters before Wednesday's practice. "Whether Dante is going to play a lot, play a little, he's kind of in the same boat with about four other guys."
San Francisco made Pettis a second-round pick out of Washington in 2018. He caught 27 passes for 467 yards and five touchdowns as a rookie, raising expectations for his sophomore campaign. Pettis hauled in just 11 passes for 109 yards with two scores last season.
Still, Shanahan has been impressed with the work Pettis put in this offseason and the effort he has shown since reporting to training camp.
"What I can say is that Dante is so much more prepared right now for the season than he was last year at this time," Shanahan continued. "Just the work that he put in while he was away, the stuff I said earlier in the year, but it definitely hasn't changed.
"Everyone battled through camp, and had some good days, some bad days. But Dante was so prepared for camp, fought through camp, the tough days, and I think took a number of steps forward as a receiver. And whether he gets his opportunity this week or some other time throughout the year, he's put himself in a position to have a chance to be successful."
San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan spoke with reporters before Wednesday's practice as his team prepares for its Week 1 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals. Here is everything he had to say.
Transcript provided by the San Francisco 49ers Communications staff.
Can you just update us on what you saw or just what LB Fred Warner's status is and just how he's dealt with the last week and then also just how dependable he's been for you guys entering his third season?
"Yeah, Fred's back. He's good to go. I can't talk about too much of his week away, but Fred's been as reliable of a player that we've had. It's great to get him back today. We were obviously pretty nervous about that, but he's good to go and we're very
With All-Pro tight end George Kittle sidelined with a knee issue and a number of wide receivers dealing with injuries of their own, the 49ers needed someone to step up and carry the weight in the pass-catching department against the New York Jets on Sunday.
Needless to say, veteran tight end Jordan Reed answered the call in a big way.
Given his extensive injury history, it was hard to know what to expect from Reed after he signed with the 49ers in August. Reed missed the entire 2019 season after sustaining the seventh known concussion of his career and was limited to 65 total games over his first seven NFL seasons. But after being brought along slowly during training camp, Reed began to show signs of still being the type of player he was earlier in his career
The NFL plans to move forward with the plans for its two California-based games during Week 1 — the Dallas Cowboys at the Los Angeles Rams and the Arizona Cardinals at the San Francisco 49ers — according to Pro Football Talk.
There was some concern that the 49ers-Cardinals game at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara would need to be postponed or moved due to wildfires creating poor air quality in the area. The same with the other game in Inglewood.
On Friday, the air quality index (AQI) for Sunday's game was
