Tuesday had the feeling of the calm before the storm. The San Francisco 49ers practiced without pads once again as they gear up for two straight days against the Denver Broncos. The session was largely uneventful, but most importantly, there were no injuries to speak of.
Here are the top happenings from the SAP Performance Facility.
1. Kyle Shanahan told reporters after practice that Reuben Foster is the team's starting weak side linebacker. The coach added the caveat that Foster can still be unseated should someone outplay the rookie linebacker.
2. Dontae Johnson opened practice with two impressive reps in coverage. He kept up with Marquise Goodwin on a go route and later broke up a pass intended for Aldrick Robinson.
3. The defense was dominant for most of practice. Eric Reid and Pita Taumoepenu each had two sacks on the day. Ahmad Brooks, Garrett Celek and NaVorro Bowman also had a sack on Tuesday. Bowman's solid day also featured a pass breakup in coverage of Pierre Garçon.
4. DeAndre Smelter made an acrobatic catch over the middle on a ball thrown behind him. He reached back and tipped it to himself before falling to the ground. Robinson made a similar catch during a later team period.
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5.** Top plays from the full-team red zone period:
- Rashard Robinson had great coverage of Goodwin and Pierre Garçon.
- Garçon got his revenge against Robinson with a touchdown reception in the left corner of the end zone. Pierre Garçon lofted a perfect pass over the receiver's shoulder.
- C.J. Beathard threw a touchdown pass to Trent Taylor on an in-cut from right to left.
- Keith Reaser had great coverage on back-to-back passes to Smelter and Robinson.
- Louis Murphy made a sliding catch for a touchdown on a throw from Matt Barkley. Barkley also had a touchdown pass to Cole Hikutini.
6. The defense kept the offense out of the end zone on all four drives to end practice.
7. Joe Staley was given a veteran's day off leading up to Wednesday's bout with Von Miller and the Broncos defense.
8. Shanahan shared that Wednesday's practice will be in full pads and Thursday's will feature just shoulder pads.
