The 49ers offense dekes Reuben Foster during his first practice with the starters

SANTA CLARA Here’s what stood out to me during practice Monday morning. THE NOT SO GOOD 1. LB Reuben Foster. Last week, NaVorro Bowman described rookie Reuben Foster as an aggressive “downhill” linebacker. In this context, “downhill” means Foster wants to explode into the backfield and tackle the running back behind the line of scrimmage. This is a good quality for a linebacker to have, but also one the offense…

August 7, 2017
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49ers training camp report: The defense punishes Carlos Hyde

1 SANTA CLARA Here’s what stood out to me during practice Friday morning. THE GOOD 1. RB Joe Williams. Yesterday, Williams gained 32 yards on four carries. Today, he gained 58 yards on six carries and had his two best runs of the offseason. Both runs came when the quarterback was under center and Williams was in an I-formation. The first run was an inside-zone play. In one fluid motion,…

August 4, 2017
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49ers training camp report: Joe Williams has a big day

1 SANTA CLARA Here’s what stood out to me during practice Thursday morning. THE GOOD 1. Violent payback for the defense. Carlos Hyde made the defense seem soft on Wednesday when he ran as hard as he could through rookie cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon, who seemed to think Hyde would go easy on a teammate and run around him. On Thursday, the defense got revenge, both against Hyde and the rest…

August 3, 2017
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49ers training camp report: Tim Hightower — not Carlos Hyde — on field for first play of practice

SANTA CLARA Here’s what stood out to me during practice Monday morning. THE GOOD 1. DE Aaron Lynch. Lynch has lost more than 20 pounds since the beginning of OTAs when he says he weighed between 295 lbs. and 300 lbs. According to Lynch, he currently weighs 273 lbs. Good for him. I thought he would gain weight during the five weeks between minicamp and training camp when he didn’t…

July 31, 2017
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Brian Hoyer has a perfect practice at 49ers training camp

1 SANTA CLARA Here’s what stood out to me during practice Saturday morning. THE GOOD 1. QB Brian Hoyer. As far as what Hoyer could control, he was perfect. Of his six incompletions, one was a drop by Pierre Garcon, two were throw-aways and three were pass breakups by cornerbacks. Hoyer threw zero bad passes. Overall, he completed 13 of 19 (68 percent), and he wasn’t just dinking and dunking….

July 29, 2017
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Geep Chryst says Blaine Gabbert is starting to find his style of play

SANTA CLARA This is the transcript of Geep Chryst’s Thursday press conference, courtesy of the 49ers’ P.R. department. Opening comments: “Alright, coming off the bye which is always refreshing for us as coaches, but a nice opponent in Seattle up there. We can talk about the game in Atlanta, but we are definitely moving onto Seattle and looking forward to it.”   Has G Andrew Tiller done enough to earn…

November 19, 2015
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Jim Tomsula: “To answer that question would be that I had a view that Seattle was on the decline, which I do not.”

SANTA CLARA This is the transcript of Jim Tomsula’s Wednesday press conference, courtesy of the 49ers’ P.R. department. Opening comments: “Everybody will be on the field today for practice. [LB NaVorro] Bowman will be normal Wednesday. We’re just going to stay on that deal leading into the game. As far as [WR Anquan] Boldin, [RB Carlos] Hyde, [CB Tramaine] Brock, they will be out there, they will be going and…

November 18, 2015
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Jim Tomsula: “We’re moving forward with Blaine.”

SANTA CLARA Here is the transcript of Jim Tomsula’s Monday press conference, courtesy of the 49ers’ P.R. department. Opening comments: “Good morning. The injury report here; [LB Aaron] Lynch, [CB Marcus] Cromartie, [DB Jimmie] Ward, [CB Keith] Reaser, they’ll all be full go. We’re in great shape there. [CB Kenneth] Acker will be go. He’s finished up and finishing up, but we expect him to be on this week. As…

November 16, 2015
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Geep Chryst: “Our base offense should be set up to beat your three division opponents.”

This is the transcript of Geep Chryst’s Tuesday press conference, courtesy of the 49ers’ P.R. department. Opening comments: “It was a good win against Baltimore. Had to work a little harder than we had to at the end, but short week so we’re moving on to Seattle.”   What does working under center more allow the offense to do that maybe–? “Yeah. We don’t really have a pitch count one…

October 20, 2015
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Jim Tomsula on the status of 49ers’ injured center Daniel Kilgore: “I didn’t ask.”

This is the transcript of Jim Tomsula’s Friday press conference, courtesy of the 49ers’ P.R. department. Opening comments: “Injuries; [LB] Ahmad [Brooks], you saw Ahmad got back yesterday, had a good practice. So, we limited him, and then he’ll be out there practicing today. So, really glad to have him back in the building. [RB] Reggie [Bush], today they’re going to do some work with him on the side and…

October 16, 2015
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49ers 7, Cardinals 47: Grades

Here are the grades for the 49ers’ 47-7 meltdown against the Cardinals. KAEPERNICK: F. Killed his team’s spirit by throwing two pick-sixes to start the game. You could see it in the 49ers’ faces on the sideline during the first quarter – they had no energy, no emotion, no belief in their ability to win. And no belief in their quarterback. After the second pick-six, the coaching staff didn’t let…

September 27, 2015
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Colin Kaepernick: “I think our offense was getting into a rhythm in large part due to our offensive line playing so well.”

This is the transcript of Colin Kaepernick’s Thursday press conference, courtesy of the 49ers’ P.R. department. What challenges does this Steelers defense hold for you guys? “There a fast, physical defense. Their defense is something they’ve always taken pride in.”   You guys have been so good on the road, especially in the Eastern Time Zone, in the past four years. What do you attribute that to? What do you…

September 17, 2015
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Geep Chryst on Carlos Hyde: “He played with so much energy, and it’s a short week.”

This is the transcript of offensive coordinator Geep Chryst’s Thursday press conference, courtesy of the 49ers’ P.R. department. Opening comments: “Hi, before we get going, I just want to say that you can’t help but watch the Steelers for me and think about how great the organization was to my brother. They share a facility between [University of Pittsburgh] Pitt and the Steelers and I just wanted to mention that….

September 17, 2015
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What we learned about the 49ers in Week 1

Here’s my Thursday column. Breaking down the 49ers before Week 1 this year was like trying to see San Francisco through the fog. It’s Week 2 now, and the fog has lifted. What do we see? 1. NaVorro Bowman is NaVorro Bowman Apparently, NaVorro Bowman is not a human being. He’s some other life form, perhaps from the NaVorro Galaxy. A human being wouldn’t be able to play every snap…

September 16, 2015
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Geep Chryst on Vernon Davis: “Reward the big man for running the floor.”

SANTA CLARA — This is the transcript of offensive coordinator Geep Chryst’s Friday press conference, courtesy of the 49ers’ P.R. department. Opening comments: “It’s great to be here. Week 1 of the regular season, there’s a lot of juice throughout the league and in our locker room. But, can’t wait to play Monday night. That’s about all I have to say, but I know you probably have some questions.”  …

September 11, 2015
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49ers’ third exhibition may answer questions…or not

This is my Saturday column. The 49ers’ preseason game Saturday against the Denver Broncos almost matters. It’s the third preseason game, the dress rehearsal. Both teams’ starters probably will play the entire first half so they can get in rhythm and feel confident for the regular season. Here are the top-three things to watch about the 49ers. 1. The first-string offense Twelve teams have yet to score a touchdown with…

August 28, 2015
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49ers get smarter in the passing game

This is my Saturday column. Some say the 49ers suffered a damaging blow when the NFL suspended their No. 3 receiver, Jerome Simpson, for the first six games of 2015. Some say they showed no football wisdom in signing him, a player likely to be suspended. I say forget Jerome Simpson. His absence will have zero impact. He wasn’t the Niners No. 3 receiver, anyway – not in training camp,…

August 22, 2015
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49ers training camp report: Day 9

SANTA CLARA – Here are the highlights of the 49ers’ fifth padded practice of training camp. THE GOOD 1. ILB NaVorro Bowman. During an 11 on 11 fourth-down drill, Bowman tagged Colin Kaepernick for a sack when Kaepernick was scrambling toward the sideline. After Bowman tagged him, Kaepernick threw a deep pass across his body to Anquan Boldin, who caught the ball for a gain of about 40 yards. After…

August 11, 2015
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Alex Boone: “I think this is one of the best teams we’ve had.”

SANTA CLARA – Alex Boone spoke in the 49ers’ auditorium Monday afternoon. Here are selected quotes. Q: How has it been moving to the left side in training camp? BOONE: It’s great. It’s different, obviously, playing next to Anthony all those years. Now I go and play next to Joe. Both great tackles. Footwork’s a little different. Handwork’s a little different. At the end of the day it’s coming along…

August 4, 2015
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49ers add Hyde, Lynch, Kilgore, Smelter and Brown to non-football injury list

The 49ers just announced they’ve added RB Carlos Hyde, OLB Aaron Lynch, WR DeAndre Smelter and OT Trent Brown to the Active/Non-Football Injury List, and G/C Daniel Kilgore to the Active/Physically Unable to Perform List. “Players placed on either list count against the 90-man roster limit and can be activated at any time prior to the final cuts of training camp,” the Niners wrote in the their press release. Hyde…

July 28, 2015
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