49ers practice facility undergoing crucial makeover

The San Francisco 49ers are hosting their local pro day today at the team's facilities in Santa Clara. The one-day workout also gave reporters their first look at the practice field since early January—and many noticed some significant changes underway.

During last year's training camp, the 49ers could not host the New Orleans Saints for joint practices because their practice fields couldn't accommodate two teams simultaneously. The teams had planned to hold joint sessions in Southern California instead, but those plans were scrapped due to injury concerns.

Now, the 49ers appear to be preparing to fix that issue. Matt Barrows of The Athletic recently reported that the team is working toward scheduling joint practices with the Denver Broncos this offseason. It's still unclear whether those practices will occur in California or Colorado. We'll know more when the preseason schedule is released, as teams typically schedule joint practices ahead of exhibition matchups against each other.

If the game is set for Levi's Stadium, the 49ers may finally be able to host joint practices at their own facility, which neighbors the venue. According to Barrows, the team is removing a little-used artificial turf field and replacing it with natural grass fields that span a full 100 yards between end zones. The current fields are only 80 yards long and include just one end zone each, limiting their functionality.

With this upgrade, the 49ers are positioning themselves to accommodate joint practices better and improve the overall quality of future training camps.