Harbaugh: 49ers open camp with five No. 1 receivers

SANTA CLARA -- Randy Moss is not the 49ers' best wide receiver, coach Jim Harbaugh said Friday.Instead, Harbaugh in his camp-opening press conference claimed the 49ers have five receivers tied for that honor.Former Raiders quarterback and current SiriusXM NFL radio personalty Rich Gannon recently on the air relayed a conversation he had with Harbaugh. Gannon said that Harbaugh informed him Moss was the team's best receiver.Harbaugh disputed Gannon's version of their conversation."The way that was reported was misunderstood," Harbaugh said Friday. "What I said -- and I remember the conversation vividly -- I was describing Randy having the fastest time in a specific drill on a specific day of the offseason OTAs."What we have here on this team, really, we've got five guys who are No. 1 receivers as we go into camp. It will play out what the roles are, who the starters are, who the backups, the contributors. We've got five guys tied for first."The five players Harbaugh mentioned are the veterans: Michael Crabtree, Randy Moss, Mario Manningham, Ted Ginn and Kyle Williams.Rookie A.J. Jenkins has to earn his way onto that list. Jenkins had a quiet first day of camp with no receptions during the 49ers' 11-on-11 sessions.Crabtree picked up where he left off with an impressive opening to camp. He had several receptions during the team's 7-on-7 sessions.But Crabtree sat out the final 20 minutes of practice with an apparent ankle injury. After being examined by the team's staff, Moss came over, took a knee beside him to check on his condition. The injury did not appear to be serious. Crabtree left the field under his own power but was walking gingerly. His status for Saturday's practice is not known.This could be the first full training camp in which Crabtree and Alex Smith will get a chance to work with each other. Smith said big strides were made during the offseason months.
"He had such a great spring and summer," Smith said. "I think just keep doing what he's doing, what we're doing. I felt like he had a great offseason. And I think just continue to work hard. The guy does so many things, he can do so many things. You need a guy in that sense to just keep getting better, more consistent and just continue to strive to get better."The first day of camp opened the way the 49ers' offseason program began: With no question Smith is the team's best quarterback. Smith looked sharp, including two well-thrown deep balls to Moss during one-on-one sessions. The other quarterbacks -- Colin Kaepernick, Josh Johnson and Scott Tolzien -- were not as sharp.The 49ers signed massive guard Leonard Davis on the eve of camp. He is a man with 155 career regular-season starts, and he could challenge Alex Boone for the starting job at right guard."I loved his comments (Thursday)," Harbaugh said. "When asked about competing, he said he wouldn't be here if he wasn't here to compete, so I thought that was spot-on and (I) take the man at his word."Leonard told us and he talked about being comfortable at either (guard) spot. And I think that's something that would be valuable for our team, for him to be able to play both spots. He's played a little more on the left side, but I think being prepared to do both would be great for him and us."When asked if his time away from football last year gave him more appreciation for the game, Moss answered, "No, because the reason I walked away from the game wasn't really to do with the game. One thing that I have learned is that people don't like the truth. So I'll just wait until my book comes out just to see why I did walk away from the game for a year."Moss quipped as he left the podium that his book can be expected in 10 or 15 years.