The San Francisco 49ers held their second practice of training camp on Sunday in a session that was largely dominated by the defense. Here are 11 observations from the 49ers second non-padded practice.
1. Arik Armstead found himself in the backfield (again), this time, on the first play of 11-on-11 work. Armstead blew past Jimmy Garoppolo forcing an incompletion. DeForest Buckner, Kapron Lewis-Moore and Kentavius Street also had "would-be" sacks.
2. San Francisco's defense got the better half of the offense on Sunday, however they did make several notable plays.
- During 7-on-7 work, Garoppolo found Dante Pettis on a comeback route against Ahkello Witherspoon.
- Under pressure, Nick Mullens connected with Pettis, who was in double coverage for a nice catch up the sideline.
- C.J. Beathard aired it out to tight end Tyree Mayfield for a big gain.
- One of the best plays on offense came as Mullens connected with Trent Taylor on a slant, beating his man for the biggest pickup of the day.
3. Witherspoon got his revenge against Garoppolo, hauling in the team's first interception of camp. Garoppolo was looking for Pettis during 7-on-7 action, when Witherspoon cut off the receiver for the INT. He also broke up another pass intended for Pettis during full-team drills.
4. Joshua Garnett dislocated his finger and left practice for further evaluation.
5. Tevin Coleman made several explosive runs during Sunday's session.
6. Fred Warner gave the defense another turnover and stripped Coleman of the ball during full team work. Malcolm Smith made the recovery for the defense's second turnover on the day.
7. Richard Sherman had an impressive PBU on a pass from Garoppolo intended for Jordan Matthews. Sherman made a diving break up on a cross pattern that drew a roar from the crowd as well as the entire defense.
8. Kwon Alexander, Jason Verrett and Jalen Hurd saw full team reps for the first time during camp. Alexander made a big run stop against Coleman on the first rep of 7-on-7 drills.
9. D.J. Reed Jr., who played free safety and nickel corner last year, saw reps at outside corner.
10. Ronald Blair III broke up a pass where he was in tight coverage against Mayfield.
11. Pads come on tomorrow. This means one step closer to real football.
