Your daily San Francisco 49ers news for Saturday, August 2nd, 2025
49ers announcer Greg Papa steps back from KNBR after sharing cancer diagnosis
“I have been diagnosed with cancer and am currently undergoing treatment,” Papa said in a statement. “As I fully focus on my treatment and work toward a full recovery, I’m stepping away from my broadcasts but look forward to returning soon.”
Papa’s son, Derek, a co-host on KNBR’s afternoon show, said on the air that he shared listeners’ desire to have his dad return this year. But Derek Papa added that his focus was on his father surviving the “battle” he’s facing.
“I know you all want to hear him (on the radio) this season,” he said. “I’ll be honest, I think that will be very difficult.”
“But Purdy offered some clarity. He said there were times where Pearsall, yes, was open, but not necessarily running his route with the timing that the offense prefers.
“In our offense, it’s usually steps, timing, your breaking at a certain angle and Ricky, last year, I feel like he was raw with his talent. He had it. But he also had to learn our system, our timing, where I’m throwing the ball. And he’s got a lot of shimmy and stuff which is great and we need that, specifically against man coverage to create separation. And we love that.
But there were some times where we had to learn, like hey dude, you can’t take a couple more steps and then break out. I need you there now. I need to get this ball out now. And we had a couple of those moments.
There were times where he took it a little deeper and then broke open and he was like, ‘Dude, I was open.’ And I’m like, well, in the timing of the play, I need it quicker. So we had moments like that and that’s part of getting in the NFL and learning the system and a quarterback and a receiver talking and getting to know each other and I feel like it has gotten better, for sure, over the last year or so.
I think towards the end of last season, you saw Ricky come out of his shell. He was playing within our system and timing, so he’s going to continue to learn who he is as a receiver and what his strengths are, and I’m going to continue to learn with him, and that excites me.”
So, yes, Pearsall was getting open, but he wasn’t always doing so with the exact right footwork, or timing of the play. This has always been a timing-based offense. Pearsall’s got the ability to separate against man coverage, but his health and ability to be clinical, and limit waste in his footwork will define his ceiling with the 49ers.”
How George Kittle helping 49ers with uncertainty about Brock Purdy’s targets
“They teamed up for a handful of receptions, including a touchdown during a red-zone drill and a big gain on a deep corner route.
“Purdy is a dang good quarterback,” 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh said Friday. “The young man layers the ball as well as anybody in football. He’s very good at processing. He gets the ball out of his hands.
“Kittle makes it easy because he’s got unbelievable route-running ability to create separation. He’s a big body but still has all the speed he had when he was a younger man.”
Key for Ricky Pearsall to break through in 49ers’ offense? Hitting his marks (paywall)
“There are certain spots on the field — for example, three yards inside the numbers or two yards outside the hashmark — that 49ers pass catchers must reach within the timing of the play. For example, there might be a play in which Purdy will take a five-step drop and he will expect his primary target to be in a precise area at the end of his seven-step route.
Purdy routinely throws to areas — not teammates — because he trusts pass catchers to arrive promptly at their spots, which the 49ers refer to as “landmarks.” Last year, however, Pearsall was often late arriving at his landmarks. A problem: He spent too much time throwing jab-step jukes at defensive backs, trying to free himself from sticky coverage, and fell out of step with Purdy.”
49ers practice report: Brock Purdy, Christian McCaffrey bond over fatherhood
“The starting right tackle — who recently told NBC Sports Bay Area he aims to be a Pro Bowler this season — has often locked horns with the star defensive end in competitive back-and-forth battles. Friday saw McKivitz tally an early win in the team’s O-line/D-line one-on-one drill. His excellent get-off and strong base stymied Bosa, who appeared atypically frustrated, and agitatedly blurted something out as he attempted to collect himself. McKivitz did not win much after that.
In a single 11-on-11 drive, Bosa beat McKivitz for three would-be sacks. Speed rush. Swim move. Speed rush. McKivitz struggled to keep up. And each time, Bosa tapped Purdy on the shoulder ever so slightly as if they were playing a game of tag.
“If you’re at practice dropping back and you’re not getting touched or anything and you’re going through your progressions all perfectly, to me, it can be scary, because once you get into the game, it’s 11-on-11, it’s going fast, you got blitzes, you got different stunts by the D-line and they’re up in your face,” Purdy said. “So to have him every single rep and feeling his presence 24/7, honestly, it’s great work for all of us, myself included. Throwing with a push in the pocket and having to have different arm angles around him, it’s all real.”
Brock Purdy, Mac Jones, Robert Saleh speak to reporters after 49ers training camp practice No. 8
“ Here is everything they had to say.”
Kawakami: Trent Williams on the underdog 49ers, Purdy’s trajectory, and his NFL future (paywall)
“I like to hear that,” Williams told me on my podcast. “Physically, I don’t feel different. And I know guys won’t even be able to fathom that until they get around this age. But not only did I get this age, I kind of did things right. I actually bust my ass every offseason …
“Because I put the work in, I can see myself going another three years —not saying that it won’t be any drop off or not saying I’ll be the same person today as I will be in three years. But I can see it. I can fathom it. That reality doesn’t seem too far-fetched, in my opinion.”
Williams added that he’s actually aiming for five more years, to go well into his 40s, but said he has to take it year by year. He doesn’t want to play poorly. He wants to be the same vital part of the 49ers that he’s been since he arrived in a fleecing of a trade with Washington in 2020. And obviously the 49ers will have a say, too.”
‘You play in the NFL?’ 49ers’ Jon Weeks reflects on unlikely path, 244 games later (paywall)
“In 2010, Weeks, 5-foot-10 and 242 pounds, was in firefighter training, working the graveyard shift as a hospital CAT scan assistant and resigned to this belief: He couldn’t realize his dream because he couldn’t grow.
“The feedback from NFL coaches was that I was an NFL long snapper,” Weeks said, “but I wasn’t big enough.”
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He was an all-state offensive lineman at Mountain Ridge High School in Glendale, Ariz., who won the Curley Culp Award as the state’s best defensive lineman and was inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame in 2022. However, Weeks wasn’t shocked when his accomplishments weren’t followed by scholarship offers: He didn’t add another inch after he sprouted to 5-10 in middle school.
“I thought I was going to be a big-time stud defensive end or something like that,” Weeks said. “But once I got to my senior year, and I still hadn’t grown, it was clear that wasn’t my path.”
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Marciano didn’t sweat Weeks’ size because the NFL had passed a safety-related rule a month earlier to protect players who were often hit when their head was down. Defensive players within a yard of the line of scrimmage could no longer line up directly over the long snapper and were required to have their entire body outside of his shoulder pads.
As a result, teams no longer needed larger, punishment-absorbing players to handle snapping duties. And Weeks embarked on his 15-season tenure with the Texans in which he played in 258 consecutive games (including playoffs) and snapped to 11 punters and nine kickers.”