The 49ers’ minicamp warms up at 1:45 tomorrow afternoon with media access in the locker room. The question: Who, exactly, will be in that locker room?
As I mentioned yesterday, there is no word yet as to whether professionally disgruntled NT Aubrayo Franklin or LB Manny Lawson will be here. The issue was not resolved today, at least not by coach Mike Singletary.
When I asked Singletary whether Franklin or Lawson would show, he answered: “As far as I know, I have heard that Aubrayo will not be here, which does not bother me one bit. If Manny is not here, does not bother me one bit. Those guys are working. They are doing what they need to do. I’ll see them when I see them.”
Lawson’s agent would not comment on whether his client will take part in the three-day burst of activity. Because Lawson is under contract (Franklin is not, having declined to sign his franchise tender to this point), the team could fine him for not participating in a mandatory camp.
Singletary eased away from that threat. “I don’t want to get into all that,” he said. “I’ll just say if Manny’s not here, I know he’s working.”
Meanwhile, two other offseason absentees – cornerbacks Shawntae Spencer and Nate Clements – are expected to appear.
“They’ll be here for sure,” safety Dashon Goldson said. “I talked to Nate the other day. He’s been working out in Arizona. He can’t wait to get back. He’s been training real hard. He’s just expecting a lot of good things for himself this year. You know, he has to bounce back from how he performed last year. So he’s feeling healthy. He say he’s big, and cut-up, and all of that. So all the guys are excited to see him. He’ll be back Thursday.”
Spencer and Clements are likely to go into the season as the 49ers’ No. 1 cornerbacks. The defense recently welcomed star LB Patrick Willis back to the huddle after offseason knee surgery. Even with Franklin and Lawson in self-imposed limbo, Goldson is getting excited about the reunion.
“Big time,” he said. “Whenever you got the full group, the group that’s gonna be playing with each other come the season, it’s always good. You get that feeling back. You’re in game mode now.”
The 49ers will practice at 4 p.m. Thursday, and twice on both Friday and Saturday (10:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.). That’s the last on-field action we’ll get before training camp begins Aug. 2.
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