Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports
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I'm in a whole other place [compared to last season]," quarterback
Trey Lance said on KNBR after Friday's practice. "I can't even imagine going back to last year. But yeah, everything has definitely slowed down."
Lance isn't the only San Francisco 49ers player who has made mental leaps this offseason.
Brandon Aiyuk has draw consistent praise from his teammates, with many saying the third-year wideout is having an amazing training camp.
Aiyuk also joined KNBR on Friday. He was asked to discuss his progress compared to last year.
"Last year was my first real training camp (COVID limited things in 2020)," Aiyuk shared, "so being able to leave, and come back, and know what to expect coming into training camp helped with everything—physically, mentally. Physically, being able to be in the right spot. Mentally, being able to understand what it's going to take on a day-to-day basis.
"On my days off, like yesterday, just being able to just take time to myself, and just kind of unwind, and release some of the tension that you have from training camp days. And be able to come back and start the weeks refreshed, and start over again, and just continue to build."
The chemistry between Lance and Aiyuk is building. The two spent a lot of time together this offseason, working out together and getting to know each other.
"He worked his butt off this offseason," Lance said of Aiyuk. "He was locked in every single day, completely. I don't even want to say different from last year, but just from a mindset standpoint, you could tell by the way he came to work every single day in the offseason. Whether it was Monday, Sunday, Saturday, whatever it was, he was taking care of his body, getting IVs, getting a massage, whatever it was.
"The work came first for him, this whole entire offseason. I've been telling people all offseason this is going to be a big year for B.A. Just the way he worked, the way he went about his business. Honestly, Deebo not being there for OTAs, I think was awesome for him. He led that room and still is leading that room. And he got to show the young guys how to do it."
Aiyuk went on to share what he saw from Lance this offseason, and why he believes the quarterback exudes leadership traits.
"I told him, 'You were born to play the quarterback position,'" Aiyuk said. "Just the way that he carries himself, just how he acts. When we were hanging out in Southern California, just the way he goes from day to day, you can tell he's a quarterback if you didn't know who he was. And you start to see it on the field.
"When we don't hit on something, he comes back, and he's just talking. You can tell it's not forced, it's not like he has to do that, but he just wants to talk. He just wants to hear what you think or what he may want you to do next time. But it's a natural leadership. He's the definition of quarterback in this league."
Lance will have a potent one-two punch at the wide receiver position thanks to Aiyuk's improvement and
Deebo Samuel finally being signed to a long-term extension. That's going to open things up for other offensive weapons.
"I think everybody's starting to kind of click, and we're getting better, and we see it every day," Aiyuk added.
You can listen to the entire conversation with Aiyuk below.
The San Francisco 49ers expect things to be different with Trey Lance under center. The second-year quarterback takes the reins from Jimmy Garoppolo, who the team still hopes to trade. While Lance is inexperienced, many believe he has a high ceiling and can be the type of dual-threat player that gives opposing defenses headaches.
"He's giving everybody confidence," tackle Trent Williams told NFL Network's Steve Mariucci and Michael Yam after Tuesday's practice. "He's giving everybody confidence in his ability and his poise, the way he commands the huddle. I say all the time that I'm impressed that he [doesn't] make the same mistake twice, and I think, from a young quarterback, that's all you can ask for because they're going to make mistakes, and that's part of the learning
On Tuesday, things got snippy between San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk and linebacker Fred Warner. The two were involved in scuffles during practice, forcing head coach Kyle Shanahan to pause the session and address his team.
"It's hot today, so tempers flaring today," Aiyuk said after practice. "But it's football. Football season's here. ... The defense came out here with a great intensity the last couple of days, so we've got to wake the offense up one way or another."
Aside from the heated on-field interactions with one of the league's best linebackers, Aiyuk has impressed his defensive teammates during training camp. One defender went as far as
Charvarius Ward is a Super Bowl champion. Unfortunately for The Faithful, that championship win came against Kyle Shanahan and the San Francisco 49ers. However, Ward doesn't feel he had a great outing on February 2, 2020. A lot of that was because of Shanahan's creative offense.
"That was one of the worst games of my career, though, because Kyle was calling some plays," Ward told NBC Sports Bay Area's 49ers Talk podcast. "There would be like six guys going right, but the ball was going to the left, so my eyes were all over the place. I was still young, my second year in the NFL. I was in the Super Bowl, and Kyle was just drawing up these crazy plays."
Once Ward hit free agency, knowing the talent level of the team and its head coach, he wanted to join
Emmanuel Moseley is always open to helping his San Francisco 49ers teammates. One, however, doesn't seem to need any help. In fact, the fifth-year cornerback is looking to stop one teammate who has been a headache thus far for the defense.
Wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk is having an excellent training camp, putting in day after day of impressive effort. The 49ers defensive backs have been praising Aiyuk, expecting the third-year wideout to have a breakout season.
"Right now, he's having an outstanding camp," safety Jimmie Ward said this week. "I feel like he's having the best camp out of everybody on the team, offense and defense."
Ward noted maybe only
