In last week's episode of the San Francisco 49ers' in-house docuseries "Brick by Brick," star linebacker Fred Warner was heard praising rookie offensive lineman Dominick Puni during practice.
Mic'd up on the sideline, Warner spoke to teammate Nick Bosa, saying, "Hey, you know who can move kind of good is the rookie, 77, Puni," Warner said. "He can move good, bro. They ran bounce or toss over that way, and I'm trying to run past him, and he was hanging with me. I had to punch to get off him. He's got good size to him, he can move. Obviously, he's young, so he's only going to get stronger."
Ahead of Tuesday's practice, Puni spoke with reporters and shared his reaction to the unexpected praise from one of the league's top defensive players.
"That's a crazy compliment from a heck of a player," Puni said. "All my friends and family obviously saw it, too, and they were just sending it to me like, 'This is crazy. This is crazy.' But that's just something [that] I'm going to look back on, whenever I'm done with football, and I'll just be like, 'Wow.'
"I mean, this guy is probably going to be a Hall of Famer, so the fact that he's saying that about me is really cool."
"This guy's probably going to be a Hall of Famer, so the fact that he's saying that about me is really cool."
Dominick Puni was in awe hearing Fred Warner praise him 🥹 pic.twitter.com/7l30BVoQOI
— 49ers on NBCS (@NBCS49ers) August 20, 2024
When asked about his interactions with Warner, Puni responded, "He always tells me 'good job' in the locker room. He'll tell me, 'Just keep stacking days, keep working. Being a rookie is tough, but you're doing a hell of a job.' He's awesome."
Tuesday also gave Puni a chance to evaluate his own performance. With injuries to other players, the rookie has received significant practice reps and preseason snaps.
"I feel like I'm doing pretty good," Puni said. "Every day is like another step towards learning something new, especially in this offense. Difficult offense to kind of jump in and learn for your first time. So, just taking it day by day, learning the playbook. There's still little details within every play that I need to get better at."
With Jon Feliciano likely headed to injured reserve after undergoing knee surgery, Puni is the frontrunner to start Week 1 against the New York Jets—a scenario that seemed like a long shot after the draft.
"It's definitely in the back of my head," Puni admitted when asked about possibly being a Week 1 starter. "But at the same time, we've got to go play Vegas on Friday, so just kind of taking it day by day. That's kind of how I've done things my whole life, especially with football. I'm not looking too far ahead because I know that can get you in trouble [with] where you are now."
