49ers training camp recap, 7/30: First padded practice was big day for pass rushers

The San Francisco 49ers held their first padded practice of training camp and players were finally allowed to “thud up” as head coach Kyle Shanahan puts it. The defense came out strong and dominated the practice but the offense still had a respectable showing. Here is your recap of day three of training camp:

Injury report

Eric Reid sprained is ankle in the second play of team drills and seemed to be in a lot of pain. He limped to the sidelines and then remained on the ground for several minutes. After having the ankle taped back up, he returned to team drills but only for a little while. Vinnie Sunseri and Jaquiski Tartt played in the safety positions for the rest of the practice. Jimmie Ward remained sidelined with a hamstring injury and Shanahan predicts his return for the second week of the preseason against Denver.

New team drills

Pads going on means offensive line vs. defensive line drills. These match ups were fun to watch and likely will continue throughout training camp. Shanahan mentioned that other than walk throughs that happen prior to game days, the team will be in pads. There are several more videos of these match ups on my Twitter account.

There was a lot of sacking going on

Arik Armstead had three sacks, Aaron Lynch had two, Tank Carradine had one and a half that he split with Earl Mitchell and Elvis Dumervil had one, but there was some debate if he was offsides.

Hoyer had a good day

Although he was “sacked” three times by Armstead, Hoyer completed 14/17 of his passes to nine different receivers. His favorite targets were Pierre Garçon and Jeremy Kerley who caught seven of those passes combined.

The offensive line play was not so good

The group as a whole gave up eight “sacks” on the day which does not bode well for the offense. Trent Brown had an off day and gave up multiple sacks when matched up against both Armstead and Lynch.

Rookie wide receivers were making impressive catches

Kendrick Bourne impressed for the second day in a row. He jumped up to grab a catch while being covered by Keith Reaser on a long pass from Matt Barkley. Bourne’s second catch of the day was from C.J. Beathard while being covered by Reuben Foster. Victor Bolden made two catches in double coverage. The first was a pass from Barkley while being covered by Rashard Robinson and Will Davis. The second pass was from Nick Mullens while being covered by Davis and Chanceller James. Trent Taylor had a catch in the flat but wasn’t nearly as productive as the prior day when he had seven receptions.

The new regime is very fan friendly

There were around 150 family members and fans invited to watch practice. There were food trucks at the entrance and covered bleachers to stay out of the sun if desired. Later, however, the team decided to practice on the field furthest from the stands. Shanahan felt like the action was too far away from the fans so he instrumented a move, allowing the fans to watch the remainder of practice from between the two fields for a much better view. (Media isn’t even allowed to stand there) The gestures of good will continue on Saturday where $5 will gain you entry to Levi’s Stadium for an open practice, and food and beverages will be complimentary.