SANTA CLARA — Two plays Monday signaled key strides in Jimmy Garoppolo’s comeback.
First, Garoppolo’s reconstructed left knee channeled enough ground force to unleash a 70-yard touchdown pass to Richie James Jr. on the first pass of full-team drills at 49ers training camp.
It was the best deep ball Garoppolo has thrown — in front of the media — since his Halloween 2017 arrival, or at least that is what it seemed like in the wake of all he’s endured.
The other pertinent play: Garroppolo scrambled up the spine of the field and came to a safe stop on a pseudo-slide, unlike his final play of last season when he fatefully darted down the left sideline in Kansas City and tore his anterior cruciate ligament.