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The San Francisco 49ers are heading back to practice today for the third day of OTAs, but we should catch up on Wednesday's happenings. We spent most of yesterday afternoon talking about Michael Crabtree's Achilles tear, so it was easy to overlook a full day of practice.
There were a couple reports on the day's festivities, courtesy of Cam Inman and Grant Cohn. Eric Branch also chimed in with an attendance report. According to the beat writers, the participation report breaks down as follows (anybody not listed participated in full):
Absent: NaVorro Bowman, Anquan Boldin, Tarell Brown, Jonathan Goodwin, Mario Manningham, Darcel McBath, Joe Staley
Present, not participating: Ahmad Brooks, Tank Carradine, Quinton Dial, Mike Iupati, Luke Marquardt, Nick Moody, Aldon Smith, Justin Smith
Stretching, some individual work, but no team reps: Frank Gore, Kendall Hunter, Kyle Williams
Non-contact black jerseys: Demarcus Dobbs, Will Tukuafu
Chris Culliver gave up the only touchdown of the day, and Cohn pointed out that it did not come because of bad coverage, but rather an inability to locate the ball. As znk916 pointed out in earlier comments, that has been an issue for Culliver, and one he needs to improve ASAP.
LaMichael James and Chad Hall were handling punt return duties, and all indications were they performed well in windy conditions. James did a solid job as a kick returner late last season, but struggled mightily with punt return duties in the preseason. If he has solidified that, it would be pretty big. It would give him some more work, and also would impact some of the other speedsters looking to prove they belong as a returner.
Jonathan Goodwin has been working out closer to home, which means Daniel Kilgore has gotten the starting center snaps. While the team cannot simulate the physicality in OTAs, working on first-team line adjustments and other such issues is a big opportunity for Kilgore. Goodwin will be back for the mandatory veteran minicamp later next month, and then of course during training camp. But in the meantime, Kilgore can use this opportunity to his advantage.