SANTA CLARA — Frank Gore exchanged knuckles with the 49ers’ PR guy as he walked off the practice field before 2:30 p.m. Tuesday afternoon. The key moment of Gore’s day.
Gore left just as the OTA got competitive. He stretched with the team and warmed up with the running backs. He even wore his helmet. But when Harbaugh blew his whistle to signal the beginning of team drills — offense against defense — that was Gore’s cue to go inside and relax.
Last week, Harbaugh said Gore “hasn’t come to the practices yet, but he’s doing his workouts.” Harbaugh did not talk to reporters after Tuesday’s OTA, so we assume the same holds true for Gore this week — he’s a healthy scratch.
Holding out Gore is the right thing to do. He has no business being on a practice field in June. Nothing good could happen to him if were to participate in these OTAs. He knows the plays already, has run them a million times. He’s not going to get any better at them. He’s 31 years old. Practice only can wear him down at this point in his career.
The 49ers are a run-first offense, so their top priority should be keeping Gore fresh for the playoffs. When the 49ers played the NFC championship game in Seattle last season, Gore had nothing left. He rushed 11 times for 14 yards in that game. That’s the 49ers’ fault for using him too much during the regular season.
The first three games last season, the 49ers gave Gore just 13 carries per game — a reasonable number for a running back as old as him. But the 49ers started the season 1-2, and at the end of Game 3 Gore publicly screamed in Harbaugh’s face and demanded more carries.
“Suit yourself,” seemed to be Harbaugh’s response. After Game 3, the 49ers gave Gore 18 carries per game, just rode him into the ground. Eighteen carries per game is way too many for Gore. He averaged 16 carries per game in 2012. That average should have gone down in 2013, not up.