It was a major rest day for the 49ers as they had a short practice on Day 3 of camp.
The San Francisco 49ers wrapped up Day 3 of training camp on Friday, which had a much different tone to it than Thursday’s practice.
After an eventful day that involved a good amount of team drills on Thursday, the 49ers had a much lighter practice on Friday that wrapped up quickly, while a number of players did not participate.
Here are three quick takeaways from Day 3 of 49ers training camp.
Major rest day
One of the bigger takeaways from Thursday’s practice was the participation of San Francisco’s top stars, as every player expected to practice was out there and competing.
That led to a high-energy day from the 49ers on Thursday, with a number of top players making their mark on the day.
It was the opposite on Friday, which felt more like a day just to get through, as the 49ers had several key players resting.
The practice itself ended a half hour earlier than usual, with the 49ers going through two sets of team drills on a lighter day that, of course, did not involve pads.
Christian McCaffrey, George Kittle, Jacob Cowing, Jon Feliciano, Jake Brendel, and Spencer Burford all did not participate on the offensive side, while Nick Bosa and Charvarius Ward were the key players missing defensively.
With the significant number of players sitting out, it was a lot of younger guys that got opportunity on both sides of the ball, as San Francisco constantly rotated the skill position players around.
OL mixup
As I shared above, it was a very different day for the offensive line, as center Jake Brendel and guards Jon Feliciano and Spencer Burford did not participate on Friday.
Burford had taken all of the first-team reps at right guard on Thursday, indicating the 49ers’ confidence in him at the position currently.
Brendel and Feliciano, on the other hand, split the center reps with the top offense, while the latter rotated around, seeing action at both guard spots and center.
Rookie Dominick Puni was exclusively at right guard, but only with the second and third-team offense, given the competition ahead of him at the position.
Meanwhile, at center, with Brendel and Feliciano occupying some of the top reps, Ben Bartch was next up, working with the second and third-team. Bartch had taken some of the first-team reps back during organized team activities (OTAs) and minicamp while Brendel was rehabbing from injury.
On Friday, it was a complete switch-up.
With Brendel, Burford, and Feliciano all not playing, there was a significant gap with the interior offensive line. Add in the fact that Bartch did not participate in team drills and it was a practice exclusively for the younger players, it appears.
2022 sixth-round pick Nick Zakelj stepped into the starting center role, taking all of the first-team reps there, while also rotating in with the second-team offense.
Puni was elevated to the first-team offense, taking all of the top reps at right guard, while also working in with the second team at times.
Behind Zakelj, undrafted free agent Drake Nugent got some opportunity, as the lack of depth allowed for him to climb up the depth chart and get his chances.
But, it was a completely different feel along the offensive line, with three starters not present, as Trent Williams continued his hold-out, leading Jaylon Moore to take the left tackle spot once again.
We’ll see how things go with pads coming on Monday.
Offense shaky
After both sides had their fair share of plays on Thursday, the defense dominated practice on Friday.
Granted, the defense had more of their core together, but it was a one-sided affair for the 49ers during the shorter practice on Friday.
From a pass-rushing perspective, there was constant pressure on the quarterbacks, with free agent signee Leonard Floyd enjoying a busy day off the edge.
But, the quarterbacks didn’t have the best performance either.
After a stellar start on Thursday, starter Brock Purdy had a shaky day behind the new offensive line on Friday.
Purdy began with an incompletion that was a little high for Deebo Samuel, with cornerback Isaac Yiadom breaking up the contested pass.
Later, Purdy threw an interception on a deep ball intended for Samuel on what appeared to be a corner post, as he overthrew the ball slightly, while safety Ji’Ayir Brown made a nice play to corral in the pass and keep both feet in bounds for the takeaway.
Purdy also airmailed another pass deep intended for Ronnie Bell with a collapsing pocket. Yiadom was in coverage on the play with safety help coming as well.
It wasn’t all negative, as Purdy had a nice completion to Deebo Samuel on a crosser with Ambry Thomas in coverage that generated good yards after the catch.
But, it was a shaky day for the starting quarterback, albeit he didn’t have a majority of his weapons or the starting offensive line at his disposal.
Among the backups, Brandon Allen primarily threw to shorter passes, with a good amount of checkdowns to the running backs, as well as quick outs to receivers for completions.
But, he did miss on a deep ball to the corner intended for wideout Malik Turner, who had broken away from the coverage and would’ve been open for a big gain. Instead, the ball was overthrown for an incompletion.
Josh Dobbs had a little bit more consistency, completion a few passes in a row on one of his series during team drills.
But, the veteran had a shaky ending, missing an open Cody Schrader in the flat on a checkdown before getting a pass batted down by rookie defensive lineman Shakel Brown at the line of scrimmage.
Overall, on a mellow day for the team, it was a shaky day for the offense on all levels. Advantage: Defense.
Stay tuned for my full notes and observations of Day 3 coming later!