The third day of training camp was the briefest one yet, with an abundance of absences, offering opportunities especially for backup offensive linemen. That, in combination with the lack of pads (they'll come next week) manifested in a whole lot of pressure and backfield run stops. Oh, and penalties.
Absences
Let's start with who was not on the field. Trent Williams continued his holdout. Brandon Aiyuk continued his hold in. And a huge number of players did not practice. Kyle Shanahan should provide a bit of clarity on those injuries Saturday.
Not practicing Friday were the following players:
- Charvarius Ward
- Brandon Aiyuk (holding in)
- Christian McCaffrey
- Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles (limped off field Day 1)
- Isaac Guerendo (hamstring)
- Jon Feliciano
- Jake Brendel
- Spencer Burford
- Jacob Cowing
- George Kittle
- Tay Martin
- Nick Bosa
- Maliek Collins
Ricky Pearsall continued side field work and Deebo Samuel said he expected him back some time next week. Talanoa Hufanga was also present on the sideline. There has still been no sign of Drake Jackson, who, along with Hufanga and Dre Greenlaw (on hand with linebacker groups) is on the physically unable to perform list.
A whole lotta pressure
There was no Nick Bosa, but the pressure did not let up. Backup offensive linemen and tight ends got throttled. It's difficult to assess any trench play sans pads, but it has not been promising.
11-on-11s began with a clear pressure from Leonard Floyd versus Eric Saubert, then a run stop by Floyd on the ensuing play versus Brayden Willis. The next play was a joint run stop by Kevin Givens and Yetur Gross-Matos, with Gross-Matos discarding Saubert.
In total, here's what I saw from sacks and pressures Friday afternoon:
Sacks/pressures:
Leonard Floyd (1/1)
Javon Hargrave: (1/0)
Yetur Gross-Matos: (1/0)
Sam Okuayinonu: (1/0)
Kalia Davis: (1/0)
Deommodore Lenoir (unblocked blitz): (0/1)
Backfield stops:
Leonard Floyd: 1
Kevin Givens: 1
Yetur Gross-Matos: 1
Austin Bryant: 1
Jordan Elliot: 1
Kemon Hall: 1
Malik Mustapha: 1
De'Vondre Campbell: 1
Tatum Bethune: 2
Fred Warner also stripped Elijah Mitchell after a catch. He took off his helmet and jumped to the defensive sideline after Isaac Yiadom scooped it up and ran it back towards the end zone.
Purdy's first pick
This was not the prettiest day for any of the quarterbacks throwing the ball. It was, again, limited, with backup offensive linemen, and Brandon Aiyuk, George Kittle, Christian McCaffrey, Ricky Pearsall, Jacob Cowing and Tay Martin all unavailable.
Starting with the pass breakups, there were three to account for. Shakel Brown had one clear swat against Josh Dobbs at the line of scrimmage, while Yiadom had a pair of impressive pass breakups, including one on an overthrown Brock Purdy deep ball to Deebo Samuel that could've been picked off.
Purdy missed one deep shot over the middle intended for Ronnie Bell, but it was too far for the second-year receiver. Yiadom and Ji'Ayir Brown were not far off in coverage.
The latter made sure that there were three-straight days with interceptions. He got his first of camp by ranging over to the left sideline on a bad overthrow of Samuel by Purdy. He made a nice toe tap to stay in bounds.
On the whole, no quarterbacks impressed. Josh Dobbs almost had a day without a terrible throw until he scudded one to a wide open Cody Schrader on a swing pass. He has not been convincing.
The plan at right guard
Offensive line coach/run game coordinator Chris Foerster is usually pretty blunt and insightful. He was asked to shed some light on the right guard competition and intimated that it could be a two-man race there to open the year, but wide open afterwards.
“You can tell it's great," Foerster said. "It's hard. It's not like we're going to be able to just, I think say, ‘This job belongs to, Jon, or this job belongs to Spencer, or this job belongs to Puni or whoever.’ By the time this all shakes out, who knows may be the right or left guard at the position. I think Banks is set. That right guard spot, I'm not going to say it's like a wide open competition, but it's going to be interesting to see because there's three good players all, with different things that they do well, and different dynamics to the whole thing.
"Do you really want, even if Puni is the best player, is that the guy? Do you want him out there, opening day, Monday Night Football against the Jets? If he's the best player you do, but those are bright lights. Whereas opposed to Spence and Jon, who have done it. So there's that whole dynamic.
And then it's just who's playing best, who's playing well. You have to look at Jon Feliciano as an aging player to say what's best for him, in regard to trying to make it to, hopefully there's a Week, 18, 19, 20. If there are those weeks at the end of the year, then how do you get him there and what does that look like this time of year and into the season? Same thing with Spence and Puni, it's all the same. So it's a kind of a fluid situation right now. And that's good to have. Unfortunately, there's not as much time to develop guys or have a competition, but I think it's good."
Right after that, Foerster was asked about Puni in particular, and raved about his skillset. He called him a "really good player" and "special guy," whose skillset clearly entices him. His full answer on that is below.
Other Notes: Deebo the kick returner, Tatum Bethune's voice
Deebo Samuel wants to return kicks
- "As far as the returning team, I feel like we have a real big advantage of like, you make one guy miss, it's just you and the kicker and nine times out of 10 the kicker is not making the tackle."
- Asked if he wants to return kicks, Samuel said, "Oh, for sure."
- The rule changes are a factor in that preference, given that there are going to be "a lot of touchdowns."
- If you're Samuel, in a contract year that's likely your last shot at a big contract and discernibly in great shape, the kickoff return role provides a very clear route for him to up his touchdown tally if he gets even a few shots at it.
Tatum Bethune's voice
- The rookie got a chance to play middle linebacker with some of the backups, and all of a sudden there was one voice that stood out. It was Bethune's
- He called out adjustments and defensive shifts clearly, over just about anyone else on the field.
- When he was in that spot, he made back-to-back plays in the form of backfield run stops. It was a promising look for the rookie
