San Francisco 49ers coaches got their first look at rookie defensive lineman Solomon Thomas in practice as the team kicked off a three-day minicamp on Friday. Thomas, who remains as one of just four unsigned 49ers draft picks, was the top selection by San Francisco with the third overall pick.
Due to league rules, Thomas will be unable to participate in a portion of the 49ers' upcoming offseason program because he is still in school. After this weekend's minicamp, he will return to Stanford, which is on the quarter system, to finish his classes.
Watching from the sideline during drills was the 49ers' second selection in the draft, linebacker Reuben Foster. He is still recovering from a shoulder surgery that he had following the 2016 college football season. While he had his helmet in hand and participated in individual warmups, he did not take part in drills because of the injury.
According to Kevin Jones of KNBR, Foster spent most of Friday's practice with defensive quality control coach DeMeco Ryans.
Reuben Foster was w/ asst. coach DeMeco Ryans most of the day. Ryans also went to Alabama & was No. 33 overall pick. What a mentor to have
— Kevin Jones (@Mr_KevinJones) May 5, 2017
Foster's shoulder has made headlines over the past few days with Mike Lombardi first reporting that his slide in the draft was due to NFL teams' concerns over the surgery and recovery. The 49ers' medical personnel felt comfortable enough with the recovery to green light the selection of Foster. On Wednesday, Adam Schefter of ESPN reported the same thing and the news spread.
On Thursday, Kyle Shanahan joined KNBR and discussed the injury. "The worst-case scenario is the shoulder doesn't heal correctly and you've got to do it again," Shanahan said. "When you have to do it again, you have to get another surgery and it would be tough to play this year, and you end up having him the next year."
Of course, Shanahan was saying that as a possible worst-case scenario and specifically said that the team's doctors feel good about the recovery. "Our doctors do a great job," Shanahan said. "They looked into everything with Reuben and met with him. Our doctors felt good about his shoulder. They thought it was recovering well. They didn't have the same report a lot of other teams did."
On Friday, 49ers general manager John Lynch joined ESPN Radio and said that Shanahan's comments were misrepresented. "Every time one of these stories would pop up, I'd go back (to the doctors) and say, 'Are you sure?' What I loved is that they never flinched. They never blinked. And I kept getting the same report. That's how we felt about it. Kyle made some comments yesterday -- Kyle Shanahan -- that I think were misrepresented in terms of Kyle said, 'Look, in the worst case scenario, and there's a risk with any injury, that it doesn't work and you have to go out and fix it.'"
Highlighters at #49ers rookie camp: WRs Trent Taylor, Kendrick Bourne & Emmanuel Obajimi; CBs David Stevenson & John Walker; QB CJ Beathard
— Cam Inman (@CamInman) May 5, 2017
Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area felt that rookie quarterback C.J. Beathard looked pretty good considering the windy conditions during the practice. "Ball came out of his hand very well," Maiocco wrote. "Looked like he was making all the throws."
Maiocco did note that Beathard threw an interception during practice on what he called a "tremendous play" by defensive back Lorenzo Jerome of St. Francis.
Below are two videos of Solomon Thomas from Friday's practice.
First Look: Solomon Thomas practicing in a #49ers uniform. (Charles Haley on the right looking on.) pic.twitter.com/kfu7798wSc
— Joe Fann (@Joe_Fann) May 5, 2017
Video by Joe Fann
#49ers DL Solomon Thomas runs through one of his first drills in the NFL. pic.twitter.com/WZifRepOXw
— Eric Branch (@Eric_Branch) May 5, 2017
Video by Eric Branch
Here is another video of Thomas posted by Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee.
Below is a video of cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon from Friday's practice.
First Look: Third round pick CB Ahkello Witherspoon practicing in a #49ers uniform. pic.twitter.com/7tAdiIcnQR
— Joe Fann (@Joe_Fann) May 5, 2017
Video by Joe Fann
