The San Francisco 49ers are wrapping up their offseason workout program, and rookie linebacker Reuben Foster will finish his individual work. Head coach Kyle Shanahan said on Wednesday that he is optimistic about Foster’s status for training camp. He said he expects Foster to be “more than ready” for the team’s first padded practice of training camp.
The 49ers will report to training camp on approximately July 27 (has to be no more than 15 days before the first preseason game - officially still to be announced). They would have their first full practice the next day, and usually the first padded practice is a couple days later. For comparison’s sake, last year, the team reported on July 30, had their first full practice on July 31, and had their first padded practice on August 2.
We’ll find out for certain in six weeks when the 49ers return, but if things continue as the 49ers are hoping, this bodes incredibly well for Foster and the defense. Even if he does not claim a starting job out of training camp, getting him in action on the field will be incredibly valuable to getting him fully up to speed on the defense. And I still think we end up see him rotating with Malcolm Smith this year. I could see Smith handling base downs, and Foster coming in with some of the sub-packages. That would likely mean more snaps for Foster than Smith, and would be part of the transition to him taking over a starting role.