On Wednesday, the San Francisco 49ers held the first of two joint practices with the Denver Broncos. The two teams will face each other in an exhibition matchup at Levi's Stadium on Saturday.
LB Aaron Lynch remains out with a right ankle injury while DL DeForest Buckner remains out after suffering a low-ankle sprain against the Kansas City Chiefs. Also out on Wednesday were DL Ronald Blair (groin), WR Aaron Burbridge (hamstring), LB Jayson DiManche (hamstring), OL Joshua Garnett (knee), LB Sean Porter (quad), and S Jimmie Ward (hamstring-PUP).
TE George Kittle (hamstring) was the only player who was limited, which means that he was held out of team drills. LB Donavin Newsom (concussion) will be placed on injured reserve.
Below are some quick notes from Wednesday's practice, which was the 49ers' 14th of training camp.
Hall of Fame defensive lineman Warren Sapp, who is a friend and ex-teammate of 49ers general manager John Lynch, was at Wednesday's practice to work with the 49ers defensive line.
#49ers Carlos Hyde gets tripped up and survives in joint practice with #Broncos pic.twitter.com/LPJhALBxQL
— Cam Inman (@CamInman) August 16, 2017
Players were in full pads during the practice session. The two teams warmed up separately but started to go against each other during one-on-ones. The veteran wide receivers like Marquise Goodwin and Jeremy Kerley appeared to fare better than some of the younger players against the Denver defensive backs. Goodwin, in particular, gave Broncos CB Aqib Talib problems.
Watch @flashg88dwin abuse CB Aqib Talib coming off his stem w/double moves. Watch Talib's reaction at end of play 🤷♂️-#BEASTwriter #49ers pic.twitter.com/kiHprG63i8
— Ryan Sakamoto (@BEASTwriter_) August 16, 2017
#49ers WR @JKerley11 sells his route to perfection on 10-yard speed out route by initially setting up CB before coming off LOS-#BEASTwriter pic.twitter.com/fNRbQStHR9
— Ryan Sakamoto (@BEASTwriter_) August 16, 2017
WR Trent Taylor fared better in team drills than he did during one-on-ones.
LB Reuben Foster left team drills with what appeared to be a minor injury. After practice, the rookie said he was fine. However, before leaving practice, Foster was able to force a fumble out of Broncos RB C. J. Anderson.
DT D.J. Jones appeared to injure his left leg during pass rush drills, but it did not appear to be serious.
Cam Inman of Bay Area News Group reports that the 49ers defense looked aggressive and physical against the Broncos. That's a big change from previous joint practices held between the two teams in recent years. A small skirmish broke out when 49ers FS Adrian Colbert had a high hit on Broncos TE Steven Scheu.
"Rashard Robinson more than held his own against Emmanuel Sanders and Demaryius Thomas," reported Joe Fann of 49ers.com.
S Jaquiski Tartt, who returned to the first-team defense, had an interception off of a tipped pass caused by Robinson. CB Will Davis also came away with an interception.
Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area reports that the 49ers offensive line struggled but the offense looked good in a red zone drill, converting five touchdowns in six plays.
#49ers camp minute... pic.twitter.com/fDAicsTe9Z
— Matt Maiocco (@MaioccoNBCS) August 16, 2017
"Brian Hoyer completed 24 of 32 passes against the Broncos today," wrote Grant Cohn of the Santa Rosa Press Democrat. "Best QB on the field."
Chris Biderman of Niners Wire reports that the 49ers pass rush was effective against QB Paxton Lynch and the Broncos offense. Lynch was far from impressive during practice.
"I wasn't overly impressed with neither Trevor Siemian nor Paxton Lynch," wrote Fann. "Brian Hoyer was the best QB on the field today."
Broncos pass rusher Von Miller was reunited with his former teammate and mentor, Elvis Dumervil, and shared some thoughts on the current 49ers defensive end.
VIDEO: Happy reunion for Von Miller and Elvis Dumervil at #49ers #Broncos practice pic.twitter.com/Ogz9QO1ekY
— Daniel Brown (@mercbrownie) August 16, 2017
