The 49ers held their annual open practice for fans today and the turnout was large - an estimated 25,319 fans attended the practice held at Levi's Stadium. This definitely wasn't anything like last year at Kezar Stadium, which was neat in its own right because of the location, but the football played there that day was downright awful.
This year, it was a fully padded practice. 49ers GM John Lynch had indicated that it would be a different type of practice this year - and it was - complete with big hits, big plays and significantly more energy from both players and fans. I had a chance to speak with Jed York and he said that he's excited about this year and the future and appreciated the fan turnout.
Here are some notes from today:
Malcom Smith and Joshua Garnett are feared to have long-term injuries. Smith injured his pectoral while wrapping up Matt Brieda during 11 on 11s. Smith played another down before taking himself out.
UPDATE: Smith is out for the year with a torn pectoral muscle.
RELATED Rapoport: LB Malcolm Smith out for the season
Adrian Colbert went down with an ankle injury while breaking up a pass. He was taped up on the sideline and returned, but seemed to re-aggravate it later on in practice. He was on the sidelines to end the day – looked precautionary more than anything. I saw him in a walking boot after practice, we'll have to see the severity of the injury.
Marquise Goodwin was getting open all day and made several acrobatic catches; one along the sideline while falling backward for a big gain and one deep over the middle and down the seam between two defenders. He also caught a TD in the last two minute drill period of the day. Easily the MVP of the day.
Matt Brieda had a solid day with a long diving reception along the sideline and took his first carry to the house for a touchdown. He was also picking up big chunks of yardage running between the tackles and caught several short passes that he turned into sizeable gains.
The tight end group was a little ragged today. Logan Paulsen was the best out of the bunch, as he caught a red zone touchdown from Brian Hoyer. Other than that, Vance McDonald was open regularly, but not thrown to and dropped one of the few passes thrown his way. Blake Bell had a drop, as did Cole Hikutini, who got open with a nifty move but couldn't haul in the reception.
At the onset, the offense had some trouble running the ball in the red zone, as they were routinely stopped for short gains inside the 10.
Brian Hoyer was with the ones, Matt Barkley was with the twos and CJ Beathard was with the threes.
Solomon Thomas lined up with the ones and twos.
Reuben Foster lined up with the ones (after Smith's injury), twos and threes and was moving very well sideline to sideline. He looks like he's ready to start.
Trent Taylor is as good as advertised. He was routinely breaking open in one-on-ones against everyone. He and Goodwin dominated that session. Hoyer delivered the ball on the money with regularity – something that can't be said about the open practice last year, which saw all QBs turn in really poor performances.
The attendance on the day was nearing 25,500. The energy was pretty high and it's clear that people are more excited about this year than last.
Aldrick Robinson had a nice reception over the middle, but took a big shot from Eric Reid when he tried to turn it upfield. Kyle Shanahan was asked about it and said that he "hoped Robinson would go out of bounds".
This was a much more physical open practice than last year. Coach Shanahan said, "We have a lot of tough guys who want to hit and it's a lifestyle that you have to live. You can't just flip a switch." Players were being taken to the ground, there were some loud pops and it was overall a very physical practice.
