49ers training camp recap, Day 5: Chad Hall's turn to stand out

The San Francisco 49ers wrapped up their fifth day of practice, putting together an early session at 10:00 a.m. PT. Although the focus remains in large part on the wide receiver corps, all reports indicate today was a strong day for the defense. Patrick Willis spoke after practice, and he felt it was mostly a good day. He is as quick to critique a performance as anybody, but he seemed pleased with the way things went.

I've posted the practice reports below, and I recommend giving them a look. While everybody sees a lot of the same things, each practice report can provide a slightly different interpretation of events. In the case of the defense, it sounds like Aldon Smith and Ray McDonald each had solid days. With certain limits on tackling, it removes some of the necessary context, but the defense seems to be moving in the right direction.

As for the offense? Well, there are some things to get excited about, and then things that leave us wondering what is going on. The offense got in some monster plays, including a 50-yard pass from Colin Kaepernick to Vernon Davis, a big pass to Chad Hall and a couple deep balls to Anquan Boldin. It is very apparent from the first five days of camp that Vernon Davis and Anquan Boldin are Kap's two favorite targets.

After that, we are left with plenty of question marks. Kyle Williams, A.J. Jenkins, Quinton Patton and Ricardo Lockette are all dealing with various ailments. Williams has missed two straight practices after reportedly straining his hamstring on Saturday. Jenkins reportedly strained his own hamstring on Tuesday, sitting out the full-team session. Patton has been wearing a soft cast on his hand due to a jammed finger, and has worn a blue non-contact jersey, which means no passes his way. Ricardo Lockette reportedly injured his hip on Sunday, but finished that sessions and appeared to gut his way through today's practice. It sounds like he was slowed down by the hip, although again, he did practice.

That has left Chad Hall and Marlon Moore as the standouts thus far, with Chuck Jacobs getting some additional snaps as well. Moore has consistently appeared as a positive in practice, while Hall is starting to make more appearances in the positive side of these reports. Until the rest of the receivers get healthy, this is what we're looking at. The 49ers have eight full days until their first preseason game. That is a lot of time for players to get healthy. However, while Jenkins, Williams, Patton and Lockette are all getting healthy, Hall, Moore and Jacobs get a chance to build their case.

Looking ahead to tomorrow

We'll want to keep an eye out for two things tomorrow. First, which, if any, of the receivers is able to make it back to practice. Second, will Eric Reid get a rotation into the first team defense. Vic Fangio has said the team will rotate, and it would make sense for Reid to get into that first team group tomorrow or the next day. For now, the most we have to gain is from what the depth chart provides us each day.

Practice reports
49ers.com
Matt Barrows
Bay Area Sports Guy
Chris Biderman
Eric Branch
Grant Cohn
Christian Gin
Cam Inman
Matt Maiocco