49ers WR Michael Crabtree ‘healthy as ever’
By Mike Dyce
The San Francisco 49ers are coming into 2014 looking for that elusive sixth Super Bowl win, and they’ll start the season off in better shape than 2013 with a healthy Michael Crabtree at wide receiver. Crabtree missed the beginning part of the 2013 season after tearing his Achilles tendon in May, and breathed some life into the 49ers’ passing offense when he returned in early December.
From the 49ers’ website:
"Michael Crabtree didn’t have to do a whole lot during offseason workouts – coaches took a calculated approach with the team’s sure-handed receiver. Even so, Crabtree demonstrated 2012-like burst during the limited time he worked with quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Crabtree missed 11 games last season because of a torn left Achilles, but he’s as healthy as ever while he enters a contract season. Expect big things."
Fellow wide receiver Anquan Boldin made comments back in late June to support that claim, saying Crabtree looked “more explosive.
“He’s a lot more explosive,” fellow receiver Anquan Boldin said, via the Sacramento Bee. “I just see him being back to his old self. For him, we’re taking things slow. We want to make sure that he goes into the season healthy.”
Quarterback Colin Kaepernick agreed with Boldin’s assesment, adding: “At the end of last year he still wasn’t 100 percent. He has a lot more burst to him now. Looks really good.”
With Stevie Johnson lining up at wide receiver as well, it could be a big boost for a passing offense that struggled at times. The 49ers had 2,932 yards passing in the league, which put them 30th in the league ahead of only the New York Jets and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.