Both Brandon Aiyuk and Trent Williams returned to practice this week after resolving their prolonged contract sagas with the San Francisco 49ers.
With the All-Pros at wide receiver and left tackle each seeing their contract demands met within the space of five days, they were left with just a week of practice to properly prepare for the season opener against the New York Jets.
Indeed, the 49ers inability to get their deals done sooner has potentially compromised the performance of two of their most important players on offense, while there is also some concern about rust with reigning Offensive Player of the Year Christian McCaffrey. McCaffrey missed all of the preseason with a calf injury and has been limited in practice the last two days.
But concerns about any of that trio starting 2024 slowly have not entered the mind of quarterback Brock Purdy, who explained why he is so calm about the lack of practice time in training camp for the triumvirate.
"I feel like we've all had so many game reps and just experience together that we understand just from watching our film," Purdy told a press conference on Friday.
"And then obviously, being back together with the time that we've had so far, we all understand how we move, how we operate, and how we need to play within this system and with each other.
"Trent was gone for a little bit, obviously, but when he's come back in, it feels good, it feels natural again, back in the huddle, and when I'm dropping back with him there. And the same with B.A. and his routes, throwing to him for the last week or so, it all just feels pretty normal.
"But I could say all that now. When the bullets are flying, we're going to find out."And then, obviously, same with Christian, too, and his reps and stuff. So it goes for everybody. We're all going to have to adjust and adapt on the fly. That's just how it is with live bullets and the live action in-game. So like I said, we'll find out."
Williams' return is arguably the most important development of the offseason for the 49ers, with his strengths in pass protection and astonishing displays of athleticism as a run blocker pivotal to San Francisco's offense remaining at the summit of the NFL.
But among pass-catchers, Aiyuk is Purdy's number one. Aiyuk was targeted 105 times last season, 15 more than his closest challenger on the team, George Kittle (90). With time of the essence, Purdy and Aiyuk have worked hard to quickly re-establish a rapport that keyed the 49ers' run to the Super Bowl last season.
Purdy and Aiyuk threw together in the spare time last Saturday, with Purdy saying of that session: "It was huge. Just he and I out in the field, just getting back into our base, fundamental routes, and everything.
"He was working on his conditioning and stuff as well. But more than anything, just him getting in and out of cuts. B.A. does it very quickly compared to some other guys, and he's a lot more explosive, I would say. And his hips are more mobile, so he can break down and get in and out in any direction.
"So that was a good day for me to just get back in the sync of seeing how he moves and feeling it out again so that this week at practice, we sort of picked up where we left off."
Though as a duo they did not quite fire on all cylinders in the Super Bowl in February, in a big picture sense where Purdy and Aiyuk left off was them performing at a level that saw the latter go for 1,342 receiving yards and seven touchdowns.
Concern over having three star players heading into Week 1 with very limited reps is understandable, but Purdy has done his bit to minimize the impact of rust. Should his lack of worry prove justified, the 49ers will be very well-placed to make a red-hot start to the season.
Related: The most important offensive players for the 49ers in the 2024 season, not including Brock Purdy
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