And now for some nuts and bolts from the first minicamp practice.

Coach Mike Nolan cautioned not to read too much into the depth chart, but we will anyway. . .

--Alex Smith took the first snaps in the morning. Shaun Hill will take the first snaps in the afternoon practice, which runs from 4 to 5:30 p.m.

Smith said he embraces the competition for the No. 1 job.

"It's a natural part of the game," Smith said. When asked about being anointed the starter the past two seasons, Smith said being placed in that situation was the exception to the rule of football. "That's more abnormal. Competition is a part of football."

--Hill said he keeps the approach that he's just going to try to get better every time he steps on the field. After all, he said, "It's a long ways away before there's a starter."

--The first-team offensive line was: LT Joe Staley, LG Adam Snyder, C Eric Heitmann, RG Tony Wragge, RT Jonas Jennings.

--The second-team offensive line was: LT Qasim Mitchell, LG Jeb Terry, C Cody Wallace, RG Chilo Rachal, RT Damane Duckett.

--The first-team defensive line was: RE Justin Smith, NT Aubrayo Franklin, LE Isaac Sopoaga.

--The second-team defensive line was: RE Ray McDonald, NT Atiyyah Ellison, LE Kentwan Balmer.

--When the 49ers drafted Balmer, Nolan said he would be used at left end and nose tackle. After a couple days of considering it deeper, Nolan said they were going to place him at left end for the foreseeable future. The team wants him to learn just one spot right now to aid in a quicker transition to the NFL.

--Balmer said he's already gotten a lot of help from Sopoaga, Justin Smith and Ronald Fields.

--You could see that Justin Smith is not just going to line up at RE. He moved around, and took some snaps at OLB. He showed his stuff on the very first play of 9-on-7 run drills when he beat Adam Snyder go meet Frank Gore in the backfield.

Smith said he sees good players on the 49ers' defense at every spot. He said he believes all the pieces are in place. Then, he added, "But all the talk is b.s. It's a matter of getting out there on the field and doing it."

--With Manny Lawson still rehabbing his knee, Tully Banta-Cain and Parys Haralson lined up at the outside linebacker spots. Jeff Ulbrich went with the first team at the "ted" spot. Brandon Moore and Dontarrious Thomas lined up at the inside 'backers with the second team.

--Haralson and Vernon Davis got into a nice little dustup during the first session of the team drills. Nolan said Haralson was to blame, but Davis would've probably been kicked out of the game. Davis ended up tossing Haralson's helmet.

"I didn't mean to toss the helmet," Davis said.

Davis admitted he got a little emotional. He said he was acting out of frustration. When I jokingly asked if it was frustration built up from last year when he didn't get the ball thrown his way a lot, Davis seemed to take the question seriously. "I don't know," he said. "I don't know how to answer that question."

--Isaac Bruce and Bryant Johnson lined up with the first team. Arnaz Battle sat out after "tweaking" his ankle.

--Bryant Johnson caught a couple passes from Smith during a passing drill. On one, he took a nice hit from safety Michael Lewis during the "non-contact" drills. The team practices without pads during minicamps.

--Frank Gore and DeShaun Foster ran with the first team. Foster fumbled Smith's handoff on their first play together during 9-on-7 drills.

--Rookies Kentwan Balmer and Chilo Rachal were matched against each other during some plays. Said Rachal: "He's a good player."

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David Baas, obviously, did not participate in practice. He said he is determined to return to the starting lineup after returning sometime in training camp. He sustained a torn right pectoral tendon while lifting weights last week. Baas underwent surgery last Friday.

He said he is hoping he does not lose too much strength, but because strength is the best part of his game, he believes it won't take him long to regain it.

Baas is no stranger to this injury. Ten years ago, he torn his left pectoral while benching 225. This time, he was going through his normal routine of lifting 335 pounds. He said the weight was not anything out of the ordinary.

"The joke is, I better never do 445 pounds because who knows what'll happen," Baas said.

Baas said it was a freak accident. He said he did everything properly, in terms of the warm up. Baas said he is intent on getting back on the field during training camp and proving he should be the starting right guard.

Baas said he took no offense to the 49ers' selecting Rachal in the second round of the draft. He said the he knew the 49ers needed more depth on the offensive line. "They did what they had to do," Baas said.

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