Training camp report: Huge day for Lockette and the L-Train

SANTA CLARA – Here is what stood out to me at Tuesday evening’s light, padless practice in which the first-team offense and first-team defense only faced the scout teams.

THE GOOD

1. Ricardo Lockette – He had an outstanding practice. He lined up primarily at split end with the scout-team offense, meaning he faced Tarell Brown a lot. Lockette beat Brown for two touchdowns – one was a 20-yard catch on a corner route, and the other was a 50-yard catch on a deep pass. Brown ran stride-for-stride with Lockette, but at the last second Lockette jumped up and caught the ball over the 5-foot-10 cornerback. This was the best catch of training camp. Lockette caught 7 passes total for 120 yards.

2. Lowell Rose – The L-Train came out of nowhere to dominate wide receivers today. For most of camp he had been using off coverage, and wide receivers were roasting him. Today, he primarily lined up right in the receivers’ face, even jamming them some of the time. This style worked well for Rose. He had A.J. Jenkins’ number. Jenkins couldn’t shake him. Rose batted away two passes intended for Jenkins, and almost batted away a third. Rose jumped the short hitch route and got a hand on the pass, but Jenkins snatched it away. Toward the end of pass during a one-minute drill, Rose picked off a Scott Tolzien pass intended for Austin Collie on a deep corner route. Rose had the best practice of all of the cornerbacks.

3. A.J. Jenkins – The 49ers keep feeding him the ball. Today, he caught six passes for 60 yards. He faced Marcus Cooper, Lowell Rose, Daryl Morris and Perrish Cox. Jenkins did not run any go routes. He did drop two passes – one was a back-shoulder fade, and the other was a short out route.

4. Tramaine Brock – He batted away back-to-back passes – one intended for Jacobs on a slant, and then one intended for Lockette on a back-corner end-zone fade.

5. Austin Collie – He played with the scout offense and caught four passes for 65 yards, including a 35-yard catch over Michael Thomas in a half-speed drill. Collie did drop an easy pass on a short slant route.

6. Justin Smith – He returned to practice despite having his right middle finger heavily taped.

7. Jonathan Goodwin – He returned to practice for the first time in a week. He wore a non-contact blue jersey.

THE NOT-SO-GOOD

1. Nnamdi Asomugha – He knocked away one pass intended for Ricardo Lockette on a dig route early in practice, but later on, Asomugha gave up back-to-back completions – one to Chuck Jacobs on a dig route, and one to Kassim Osgood on a dig route.

2. Daryl Morris – He gave up three catches today and knocked away none. I have not seen Morris knock away a pass during training camp.

Comments are closed.