What 49ers’ Colton McKivitz took away from ‘solid’ practice vs. Maxx Crosby
““Being on the other side of Trent, he’s going to get their best shot, and then they’re going to come over and see me,” McKivitz said. “So my goal is to make it as close as I can get to Trent as possible.”
In a sense, going up against a player such as Crosby is more difficult in practice, McKivitz said. In a regular-season game, the 49ers would put together a scheme to go against defensive lineman. McKivitz referenced how the 49ers always game-plan against Los Angeles Rams star Aaron Donald.
But in a practice, it’s usually just one-on-one.
“For him, we’ll probably scheme a guy like that,” McKivitz said of Crosby. “To have all the one-on-one reps, it’s just a confidence-builder to see where you’re at in the preseason and if you need to go back and fix things. It tells you where you’re at in a projection for the year.”
Kyle Shanahan reveals why Trent Williams has missed 49ers’ joint practices
“No, it’s more about Trent. Starting to have new plus-36-year-old rules for certain people,” Shanahan told reporters. “Yeah, his plus-36 might be a little different than our punter and long snappers but you know, Trent’s playing at a very high level, Trent’s in as good as shape. I think he’s a lot further along right now than he was last year….But we love where Trent’s at,” Shanahan said. “You only have so many bullrushes, so many everything you have in you once you get to a certain age, and when you put a guy out there like Trent, I mean everyone wants to measure themselves up against him. So, I’ve been in joint practices with Trent, and it’s a little different for him just going against people. So would’ve taken him out of that and be a little bit smarter with him.”
When CJ met D.J.: 49ers rookie resembles former player — and that’s no coincidence (paywall)
“Stamina hasn’t been an issue for West, who’s been working on his lung power since the eighth grade. That’s when he joined his school’s cross country team, a rare resume item for an NFL player, much less a 316-pound defensive tackle.
Of course, back then, West didn’t have the frame he has today, not even close.
“I was maybe a buck-40,” he said. “I was tiny.”
And it wasn’t as if he was setting records at his Chicago-area school. But the experience proved valuable when he started dedicating himself to football.
“Doing that early on, you kind of learn how to push yourself past your limits,” West said. “It’s not an easy sport to do. And I was never the best distance runner by any stretch. I just did it because: Why not? Who’s gonna tell me I can’t do it?”
The cross-country experience highlights another West characteristic — the outgoing defensive lineman’s never been afraid to try something new…..Early on in high school, however, that personality was held back by a stutter. As West explains it, his brain sometimes outraced his tongue, and the words wouldn’t come out on time. So he took a speech class with a teacher, Kim White, who happened to be married to one of the school’s football coaches.
“I said, ‘I want to get better at this,’” West recalled. “‘I’m not very good at speaking, I’m not very good at talking. And I want to play football as well. So, eventually, I’m gonna have to talk in front of a mic.’”….White taught him to slow his process, to allow the words to flow naturally. He grew so confident that White, who was also the drama teacher, convinced him to take part in a school musical, “Anything Goes.” West played the role of Moonface Martin, a loveable gangster who belts out a solo, “Be Like the Bluebird.”…..West also played Kristoff in “Frozen.” As he got to know him, however, it made perfect sense.“
Five 49ers to keep an eye on in Saturday’s NFL preseason game vs. Raiders
”Sigle is seeing a lot more time with the 49ers’ first-team defense. And Jason Pinnock’s heel injury has provided Sigle more of a chance to run with the first team.
The guy has the physical tools. Sigle ran the 40-yard dash in 4.37 seconds in the pre-draft process, including a combine-best 15.13 mph in the first 5 yards of his sprint. He also appears to have what it takes with his ability to comprehend the defense and communicate with his teammates on the field.
He was one of the 49ers’ top players in the preseason opener against the Denver Broncos, and another good game could move him closer in his bid to earning a job as a Week 1 starter.“
49ers’ Shanahan wants to play starters Saturday. With 27 injuries, should he? (paywall)
One reason Shanahan is considering playing starters in preseason Week 2, after fielding only two (Winters, Bartch) against the Broncos, has to do with his practice plan next week. He said he wants to simulate a regular-season game week. A starter who doesn’t play Saturday will effectively be given one too many rest days, he reasoned, “and it becomes unsafe to bring him back” for practices at full go.
Whatever the calculus, the Niners are already one of the most injured teams in the league — again — and having even a semi-healthy team for Week 1 would qualify as a win.
“The fact that so many guys are hurt, it kind of takes the decision process out for me,” Shanahan said. “I think there’s three healthy starters on defense right now, so I got to decide on those three guys. But it does put a lot more pressure on the 3s and stuff. The 2s become the 1s. The 3s become the 2s. We don’t really have 3s right now.”