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SANTA CLARA — Most eyes at 49ers training camp are on Jimmy Garoppolo’s rebuilt left knee that is ensconsed in a DonJoy, titanium brace.
Garoppolo’s wandering eyes look elsewhere, and not just at the defensive coverage or his wide receivers. The 49ers quarterback occassionally will peer at his left wristband to read a message he inscribed in black pen: “Robot Mindset.”
“It’s just kind of a thing I keep in my head, just to stay locked in,” Garoppolo said Thursday. “You don’t want to be distracted by the fans or the music or anything like that.
“As a quarterback, that’s what you have to do — have a robot mindset.”
That’s not the only reminder on his wristband’s cover, which also tells him to spy where safeties are lined up and what protection is needed.
Because Garoppolo is not actually a robot — stunning revelation, right? — his work day goes beyond just firing passes at a youth-laden receiving corps or trying to improve on the 49ers’ spotty red-zone production, the latter of which was Thursday’s emphasis.
He is only 10 months removed from surgery to replace the torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. Stretching before practice does not require the multiple hours it took former 49ers linebacker NaVorro Bowman, who tore multiple knee ligaments and needed a year of rehab before his 2015 comeback.
“Warming it up isn’t difficult,” Garoppolo said. “It’s just keeping the inflamation down and everything that is the battle.”
After practice, Garoppolo said his routine includes: “massage (the) soft tissue, ice tub, get it scraped, I mean there’s a million different things. You’re just trying to decrease the inflamation in it that comes from practice.”
Appreciative of the 49ers’ training staff, Garoppolo is “thankful” his left knee is what got hurt last Sept. 23 at Kansas City, seeing how his right leg is the one he plants and pushes off on throws.
His reps through five training camp practices have been plentiful with no apparent limitation — and no acquising of snaps for the QB2 battle between Nick Mullens and C.J. Beathard.
Thursday’s workload was an encouraging success. In the overanalyzed data department, he was 10-of-14 in team drills, and 5-of-6 in red zone action. He also looked sharp as receivers took on cornerbacks on an earlier red-zone drill, with exceptional scoring strikes to Dante Pettis, Marquise Goodwin, Trent Taylor and Jordan Matthews.
Garoppolo also ran for a would-be touchdown on a red-zone snap, and he didn’t need to go into a fake slide like he did on a Monday run. By the way, he said he doesn’t need to learn how to slide with his knee brace because he’s always slid with right leg.
Moral of the scramble-sliding-comeback story: “Get down. Don’t take that extra hit,” said the quarterback whose ACL ruptured before he endured a sideline hit in Week 3 last year.
DEE FORD RESTS KNEE
Defensive end Dee Ford’s tendinitis in his left knee acted up for the second straight practice and, this time, kept him out of team drills.
“He was talking about having a little knee tendonitis. He says it happens about every camp and usually goes away,” coach Kyle Shanahan said. “He talked about it this morning, went out there and it was bothering him during individuals.
“Talking to him, it doesn’t seem like cause for concern. You can tell when you talk to a player, and he says it just happens about every camp. He could have (practiced) but it wasn’t necessary.”
The 49ers rotated different players through Ford’s spot, with Thursday’s edge rushers being Arik Armstead, Solomon Thomas, Nick Bosa and Ronald Blair.
SURGERY FOR GARNETT
Oft-injured guard Joshua Garnett will miss three weeks after undergoing surgery on a finger he repeatedly dislocated the first two practices of training camp. “There wasn’t anything he could do about it. He tried to practice with it but it kept popping out and would continue to happen, so we had surgery on it,” Shanahan said.
Garnett entered camp after a strong offseason and was challenging starter Mike Person at right guard. With Person, a ninth-year veteran, getting Thursday off, Najee Toran lined up with the first-string unit.
BUCKNER DOES NOT PRACTICE
Defensive tackle DeForest Buckner did not practice because of what the team said was a mild toe sprain. The top defensive tackles in Thursday’s practice were Sheldon Day and D.J. Jones, although Armstead and Thomas also bumped inside during nickel situations.
Defensive lineman Kapron-Lewis Moore sustained a groin injury and was to have a post-practice MRI.
RUNNING BACKS HURTING
Jerick McKinnon will not come off the physically unable to perform list this week, but he might next week, Shanahan said. Running back Jeff Wilson will miss one to two weeks with the calf injury he sustained in Monday’s practice, and he’ll likely miss the Aug. 10 exhibition opener.
Shanahan has yet to find clarity in the running back rotation for the coming season because, as he put it, “Jet (McKinnon) hasn’t even been out there.”
Although Tevin Coleman continues to see the most first-team action, Matt Breida is “finally getting his legs back and looking good,” said Shanahan, noting Breida missed most of the offseason practices with a pectoral injury.
Raheem Mostert showed off his well-known speed in Thursday’s action, as did rookie Austin Walter.
LATE OFFICER HONORED
While the 49ers hosted first responders from local and state agencies, also in attendance was the family of Tara O’Sullivan, a Sacramento police officer who was shot and killed in the line of duty in June.
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“It was awesome having them out here. I was glad they could do that and I told them they could do it any time,” Shanahan said. “I wanted to give them our condolences. The whole team signed something for them. But it was hard to go there, because it was very emotional talking to them today. I can’t have enough respect for what they’re going through.”
