The Good and Not So Good from 49ers Camp: Mykel Williams Injures Ankle

1. Quarterback Brock Purdy

Put on a masterclass, with the exception of one throw, which I'll get to. Overall, he completed 9 of 12 pass attempts and threw a touchdown to Russell Gage in the back-left corner of the end zone. That was a beautiful throw, but not his best one of the day. That was a 50-yard bomb down the field to rookie wide receiver Jordan Watkins, who beat Darrell Luter Jr. and Jason Pinnock. The pass had arc and trajectory and hit Watkins perfectly in stride. Purdy is such an underrated athlete. Unfortunately, he tends to make one bad decision per day. Today, he faked a handoff, rolled left, hesitated, rolled back to his right, hesitated again, held the ball for six seconds and then threw it back to his left and got intercepted by linebacker Luke Gifford, whom he never saw. Bad habit. Purdy is too good and makes too much money to make this mistake so often. In five practices, he has four interceptions and a completion percentage of 69.

2. Quarterback Mac Jones

Quietly completed 11 of 13 pass attempts with zero interceptions. Now has completed 62 of 79 attempts (78 percent) with just one pick through six days. He doesn't have a bunch of flashy highlights, but that's because he understands his limitations and doesn't try to do too much. He seems to know exactly where to go with the ball on every play. Purdy certainly is a better quarterback than Jones, but he is $50 million per season better than him? I have my doubts.

3. Defensive end Jaylon Allen

Recorded a sack and a tackle for loss during team drills mere hours after signing with the team. He plays with tons of energy, and he looks a bit like a young Bryce Huff. Excellent first day.

4. Defensive end Robert Beal Jr.

Batted down one of Mac Jones' passes at the line of scrimmage. This is the first play I've ever seen him make. He's entering his third season in the league and he's a former fifth-round pick.

5. Wide receiver Jordan Watkins

Played with the starters because Ricky Pearsall, Jauan Jennings, Jacob Cowing and Brandon Aiyuk were out, and caught a 50-yard bomb from Brock Purdy. Watkins doesn't seem like a future No. 1 receiver, but he's a big-play complementary player who can do a little bit of everything. And he's durable, unlike the other wide receivers on the team.

6. Wide receiver Russell Gage

He's 29 and he hasn't caught a pass in an NFL game since 2022, and yet he's having an excellent training camp. He's taking lots of reps with the starters out of sheer necessity and he's performing well. Today, he made a circus catch in the back of the end zone. He was the best receiver on the field.

7. Defensive tackle C.J. West

Continued to dominate during 1-on-1 pass-rush drills because he's strong, twitchy and he strings multiple moves together. If the bull rush doesn't work, he has a spin move. If he can't go through you, he goes around. Then in 11-on-11s, he got in a shoving match with one of the offensive linemen. He's certainly making his presence felt.

THE NOT SO GOOD

1. Defensive end Mykel Williams

Didn't practice. The 49ers say he has an ankle injury and it's nothing serious, but they've undersold more injuries than I can count the past few years. All we know for sure is that Williams played though a high-ankle sprain all of last season, which is a big reason he didn't record many sacks. He even said that his ankle affected him at the Combine and his Pro Day a few months ago. The 49ers haven't said if his current ankle injury is related to his old one. Either way, he has ankle issues, and that's alarming. The 49ers can't help but draft injury-prone players in Round 1.

2. Defensive tackle Alfred Collins

He's not a pass rusher at this stage of his career because he has no pass rush moves. Actually, that's incorrect. He has one -- a bull rush. And it's not effective because his pads are so high. He doesn't get any leverage. No wonder he recorded just 7 sacks in five collegiate seasons. To be fair, the 49ers drafted him to stop the run, not rush the quarterback.

3. Wide receiver Ricky Pearsall

Did not practice. The 49ers said he had a rest day, but he didn't show up to watch his teammates. And yesterday, he either shut himself down or got shut down midway through practice. So this is a situation worth monitoring. He's trying to recover from a hamstring injury.

4. Cornerback Deommodore Lenoir

Did not practice. The 49ers didn't say why. Their secondary is absolutely awful without him.

5. Wide receiver Jauan Jennings

Hasn't practiced since he injured his calf on Day 4 of camp. You have to wonder if his calf will be an ongoing issue, and if the achilles tendon is compromised as well.

6. Defensive tackle Jordan Elliott

Burst threw the offensive line during 11-on-11 team drills, slipped and fell facefirst into Brock Purdy's knees, Fortunately for the 49ers, Purdy fell down and didn't injure anything. Still, this play was scary.

7. Running back Corey Kiner

Caught a pass on the final play of practice, but fumbled the ball and the defense recovered. This was Kiner's second fumble in the past six days. Won't make the team like that.