San Francisco 49ers rookie running back Trey Sermon has agreed to document his first NFL training camp leading up until his first NFL game. Sermon is sharing a first-person account of his experiences. In his third blog entry, Sermon recaps his first preseason game, finding his footing in joint practices and details how teammate Raheem Mostert and running backs coach Bobby Turner have continued to be a resource in his development in Year 1.

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You're on the sidelines and you hear the national anthem and you see the fireworks. I've watched these moments on TV. Now it's my turn. I was so ready to get out there.

It took my first hit to shake off any jitters. That hit actually came kind of early to be honest. On the second play of the game, I took a hand-off from Jimmy Garoppolo and tried to find a hole between Daniel Brunskill and Laken Tomlinson. It only went for about a yard. But that's all it took for me. It was game time. After that play, I was so ready, man.

Every time I came off the field, Coach Bobby Turner was right there to coach me up. After every series he was there to talk me through the play and give me pointers. Raheem Mostert, too. He would ask me what I saw during each play and tell me things to focus on to get better.

I definitely needed that after my fumble. Man, that killed me. Thankfully, Colton McKivitz recovered it, but that's not me and that's not how I play this game. And I'm working so that a situation like that doesn't happen again.

I played about 20 snaps that game, but I wanted to get out there more. I wanted to continue to compete and help my team. But I understand my time will come. I had nine carries on the day and caught both of my targets, but it wasn't enough.

After the game, I went straight to the film. I know that I'm more than capable of playing at a high level in this league. So, I really just have to fall back on the technique that I've been taught to continue to prove myself.

I didn't have too much time to dwell on the game because we were already on to joint practices with the Los Angeles Chargers.

Believe it or not, this was my first time in LA. Well, it's not technically LA, but at least Orange County. I didn't get to do much sightseeing or taking in the city because I was focusing on body maintenance and my playbook. But it was really nice being somewhere new. That SoCal weather they talk about was good. Our road setup was pretty legit, too. But I was just excited to see a different defense than I have for the past three weeks and keep working on my game.

Practicing against the Chargers was definitely a good opportunity for me to see some different looks. I also had some learning moments in my first practice.

There was a run play that we had where I felt like I was behind the play a little bit. As soon as I got to the sideline, I went straight to Raheem and Coach Bobby T to talk me through it. During the next series, we ran a similar play and it turned out well. I was able to make a nice cut and made a good read just from the pointers that they gave me.

But once that session was over, I wanted to hone in on the pointers I got and get better at it the next day.

Or at least that's what I thought.

At the beginning of our second practice with the Chargers, I ended up rolling my ankle a little bit. With the timing and where we were at that point in camp, the smart decision was to get right into recovery and rehab and not force it. Of course, I was frustrated. I wanted to be out there. But, the team wanted to be smart with my ankle, so I didn't get to play in our second preseason game.

There's nothing I wanted more than to be out there on the field with my brothers and compete on the field with them. I stayed on the sidelines with Coach Bobby T and Raheem so I could watch and learn from Wayne Gallman II and JaMycal Hasty on the field. It's a different perspective you get when you're watching from the sidelines. I was still learning.

I'm taking everything I've been learning these past few weeks and applying them to my game. I'm hoping I can do that this week on the field for our final preseason game. I checked in with our trainers once we got back from LA and I was cleared to practice this week. My ankle feels good and I'm ready to go.

This is my opportunity to prove that I'm ready. I'm in my groove. I'm clicking with the offense and I'm comfortable. That's what it comes down to and that's what I want to show. And I feel like I'm having a great week of continuing to stack days. I want that to carry over into Sunday. As long as I continue on this path that I'm on right now, and keep making the improvements that have been asked of me, I'll be right where I want to be.