The San Francisco 49ers conducted their tenth day of practice, and it was a special one as the team had their first session inside Levi's Stadium. It was an open practice, marking the first one in several years. The only injury of note saw Carlos Hyde tear a fingernail on a kick return, but he returned and finished practice. We exhale one more day.
Chris Cook getting some interceptions
The 49ers signed Cook to a 1-year deal this offseason, with hopes of Ed Donatell tapping into his immense talent. Cook has the mesaureables, but in his time in Minnesota, he struggled with spotting the ball downfield, and recorded zero interceptions through the first four seasons of his NFL career. He had two interceptions on Monday, one of Blaine Gabbert, and one of Josh Johnson.
Cook is a guy we'll be paying plenty of attention to this Thursday when he gets into some game action. On Monday, he played opposite Perrish Cox with the first team defense. Tramaine Brock is nursing an ankle injury, and Chris Culliver sat out while dealing with some leg thing. I suspect we see Culliver and Cox starting on Thursday, but Cook will get plenty of chances to prove himself.
About the interceptions
The defense had five interceptions on Monday. That is not necessarily the end of the world for the offense. I would not be surprised if the offense was a little more aggressive in training camp, knowing the repercussions are so much smaller than in a regular season game. Or even in a preseason game for that matter. We'd prefer not to see interceptions, but I'll go with the glass half full approach!
Okoye!
The Great Brit got past Carter Bykowski and flushed Blaine Gabbert out of the pocket. It's one play, against a tackle that is fighting an uphill battle to make the roster, but it's still good to see. Okoye has a long way to go to become a quality defensive player, so every little positive we see is welcome.
Participation
DNP: WR Michael Crabtree, WR Brandon Lloyd, CB Chris Culliver, RB LaMichael James, CB Tramaine Brock, DL Justin Smith, DL Ray McDonald, RT Anthony Davis, WR L'Damian Washington
Of this group, Culliver would seemingly be the only one who will participate on Thursday against the Ravens. The newest members of the 49ers did not participate. L'Damian Washington was not around, and the 49ers only signed Glenn Winston Monday afternoon.
Practice Reports
Chris Biderman
Bay Area Sports Guy
Matt Maiocco
Matt Barrows
Steve Corkran
Grant Cohn
49ers.com