HENDERSON, Nev. — Fred Warner was begging Jimmy Garoppolo to throw a pass at him, which in previous years wouldn’t have been an unusual sight at practice when they were San Francisco 49ers teammates.
But they were on opposite sides Thursday with Warner at linebacker for the Niners and Garoppolo quarterbacking the starting offense for the Las Vegas Raiders as the teams met for a joint practice.
“That’s my guy,” Warner said afterward. “I love Jimmy. I love seeing him succeed. He had a great practice today, so I’m looking forward to (Friday) again.”
The teams have another joint practice Friday and then meet in a preseason game Sunday at Allegiant Stadium. Raiders coach Josh McDaniels didn’t rule out playing Garoppolo on Sunday, but the chances don’t appear likely. So these two practice days against the 49ers are especially important.
Garoppolo played the previous 5 1/2 seasons in San Francisco before signing with the Raiders in the offseason. He didn’t have the easiest transition, a broken left foot delaying his signing by a day and then forcing him to miss organized team activities and minicamp.
When training camp began, Garoppolo often didn’t look close to the quarterback who helped the 49ers reach the Super Bowl in 2019 and the NFC title game in 2021.
But now he’s starting to come around, and on Thursday was especially sharp during two late-practice scrimmage drives. He went 3 for 4 on one drive while connecting with three different receivers - his solo miss a sideline pass to Davante Adams in which the receiver was just barely out of bounds. Then in a 2-minute drive, Garoppolo completed five of seven passes to three receivers, including a touchdown in double coverage to tight end Austin Hooper.
“I think it’s moving in the right direction,” Garoppolo said. “I obviously started getting my feet under me, literally and figuratively.”
Garoppolo said on the first play that Niners linebacker Dre Greenlaw started playfully yapping at him, calling it an enjoyable experiencing facing a group of players he called his “brothers.”
That’s despite how it ended in the Bay Area.
The 49ers had planned to trade Garoppolo before the 2022 season and start Trey Lance, the third overall pick in the 2021 draft whom San Francisco gave up three first-round picks to acquire. But when Garoppolo underwent offseason shoulder surgery, that eliminated outside trade interest in him, prompting the 49ers to re-sign him at a reduced deal.
When Lance was injured two games into last season, Garoppolo again took over as the starter. He was having his best year, throwing 16 touchdown passes and four interceptions in 10 games, before going down with a season-ending foot injury.
In February, Niners coach Kyle Shanahan said he didn’t see how Garoppolo would return to the club next season.
“I think that was a simple question: Is there scenario he can be back here next year?” Shanahan said. “I gave a common-sense answer: ‘No.’ I think that was a little overblown on trying to be a shot at him or anything. We knew Jimmy wasn’t coming back on his standpoint and our standpoint, financially, and everything. But any time I’ve been asked about Jimmy and what he meant to us and how he was, I’ve never said it differently.
“Jimmy was unbelievable here.”
Shanahan said he didn’t get the chance to speak with Garoppolo on Thursday because the teams were on separate practice fields.
“I think he’s an interesting guy because he doesn’t promote himself ever, but he could,” San Francisco running back Christian McCaffrey said of Garoppolo. “He won a lot of games. He’s obviously a great quarterback who’s been successful in the past. Always has a smile on his face, always has a great attitude and is just a really great guy to be around.”
Garoppolo said to not mistake his easygoing demeanor for a lack of competitiveness.
“It’s in there,” Garoppolo said. “Everyone has different ways of dealing with stuff. Some people like to vocalize it and put it out there. Some people like to keep it in and just let their play do the talk. There are different ways to go about it, but that’s kind of how I’ve always been. I’m not changing.”
NOTES: 49ers wide receiver and return specialist Ray-Ray McCloud will be out about eight weeks because of a broken wrist. He is expected to undergo surgery Friday. McCloud caught 14 passes for 243 yards and a touchdown last season and averaged 10.8 yards on punt returns and 23.0 on kickoff returns. … San Francisco TE George Kittle is out this week with an adductor strain. Greenlaw left early because of a hamstring injury.
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