Darnell Dockett with the quote of the day about longtime rival Alex Boone

The San Francisco 49ers started their two-day mandatory minicamp, holding the first practice on Tuesday. Reporters were allowed to observe the session, and there were several noteworthy takeaways. QB competition? Not yet Trey Lance and Sam Darnold are rotating first-team reps during practices. Tuesday was Darnold's turn. Wednesday will be Lance's opportunity. First practice of minicamp is in the books. In 11-11s, I had …First-team QB Sam Darnold 4-7Second-team QB Trey Lance 6-9Third-team QB Brandon Allen 4-4— Matt Barrows (@mattbarrows)

As the sun rose over the horizon, fans of the San Francisco 49ers came from all over, with great anticipation, as General Manager, John Lynch, slowly trudged his way upon the hill, disappearing into the fog for just a moment, and reappearing with Kyle Shanahan, to proclaim Brock Purdy the heir to the 49ers' QB throne. (Cue the "Circle of Life" track!) Alright, so it wasn't exactly like that. But the 49ers' brass has made it a point this offseason to ensure everyone knows Purdy is the team's starting quarterback, once he's healthy. And while it may have lacked the drama of a scene from The Lion King, the declaration was just as impactful. (You know, if we could have had Lynch look out over the kingdom, and then hold young Purdy up in front of the team's cheering

You've heard stories about San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan installing a play and breaking down exactly how he expects the defense to react. Then, when the players execute the play, everything occurs as the coach explained, as if he had a crystal ball to predict the outcome. Shanahan is a confident play-caller, emphasizing execution by his players to ensure everything goes as planned. The 49ers acquired a big-time playmaker last season, trading for star running back Christian McCaffrey, who had already established himself as one of the most versatile players in the league. Even McCaffrey marvels at the things his play-caller comes up

The San Francisco 49ers expect their second-year quarterback, Brock Purdy, to start throwing again this week. Purdy underwent surgery on March 10 to repair the tear of the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in his right elbow, an injury sustained on January 29 in the NFC Championship Game. The expectations were always for the quarterback to start throwing again in early June. Purdy won't be doing anything excessive at first. He will likely be limited as this portion of his rehabilitation begins, and his workload will ramp up in the coming months. Purdy's return timeline remains up in the air. However, the team will know more once he starts throwing again. Head