49ers notebook: Ronald Blair has makings of a coach, Jalen Hurd talks practice fights
The 49ers’ defensive line demands attention for a few reasons.
The line features four first-round draft picks made since 2015 (Arik Armstead, DeForest Buckner, Solomon Thomas and Nick Bosa) and in March the team added one of the NFL’s most productive pass rushers in Dee Ford via trade with the Kansas City Chiefs.
All that attention elsewhere is fine for Ronald Blair III, who tied for second on the team with 5 1/2 sacks last season despite not starting a game. Blair doesn’t have a problem flying under the radar or conceding playing time to others. He’s the ultimate team-first player, even it costs him time on the field, which could ultimately cost him money as he enters the final year of his rookie contract.
“You always want weapons alongside you that can help the (defensive line) room ultimately,” Blair said Saturday. “So, to me, it’s a great experience having guys like Nick and guys like Dee, seeing them work in and work out. ... In that room, if I scratch your back, you scratch mine.”
Blair, who says there haven’t been talks of a new contract with San Francisco ahead of his free agency next spring, is widely considered one of the 49ers most likely to take up coaching after he’s done playing. He said members of the coaching staff at times come to him for answers and tell him how natural he would be in their position.
Blair is known for being on top of his assignments as well as his teammates’, which has led defensive coordinator Robert Saleh to coin the phrase, “If you want to win, put Ronnie in.” Blair figures to get plenty of playing time throughout the year to spell players ahead of him on the depth chart.
But the 2016 fifth-round pick from Appalachian State isn’t about to bury his playing career for coaching just yet.
“(Saleh) says, ‘Ronnie’s going to be a coach!’ and I’m like, ‘Please, stop. I’m playing right now so let’s not do that right now,” Blair said. “I’m not ready to have that conversation yet. So when that time comes, it’ll come. But right now I’m just trying to be the best defensive lineman for the 49ers.”
The 26-year-old has been all over the defensive line throughout training camp, but worked predominately at his natural defensive end spot with the second string most recently. He’s received some first-team work while Bosa’s workload is managed carefully following his hamstring injury in May. Ford has missed most of the past two practices with knee tendinitis, which the 49ers don’t believe will be a long-term issue.
Blair had high praise for Bosa, the recent No. 2 overall pick who has made a splash play in seemingly every practice despite the new performance staff closely monitoring his reps to ensure he’s healthy for the regular season.
“He’s a baller, straight up,” Blair said. “He got drafted that high for a reason and he’s holding up to that standard. ... I know we have high standards for him, but he even has more high standards for himself. We just want to keep pushing each other to be the best players that we can be and, at the end of the day, it’s only going to make us better.”
Hurd speaks on his training camp fights
Jalen Hurd, the receiver and former running back drafted in the third round this year, hasn’t exactly made friends in the 49ers’ secondary since training camp began. He got into two minor scuffles during a practice last Sunday when defensive backs took exception to his aggressive blocking on running plays.
Hurd addressed the scraps for the first time Saturday.
“Fighting’s really probably not a great thing in football, as much as you get in physical conflict every play,” Hurd said. “It’s alright. It won’t happen again though.”
Coach Kyle Shanahan said afterwards he was “proud” of Hurd for being an irritant to the defense, but didn’t like that Hurd swung back after taking a punch in his second skirmish. Shanahan noted in a game situation, instead of the defender getting penalized and kicked out of the game, and giving the 49ers 15 free yards, Hurd fighting back would have led to offsetting penalties and both players getting ejected.
“Definitely can’t have that in a game,” Hurd said. “So it wasn’t like any message or anything. Just blocking hard. It’s football, so things get scrappy sometimes.”
Hurd missed nearly all of the spring program with a knee injury and has worked back into the fold slowly. He spent the early portion of camp only playing on running plays, so his best chance at standing out was to block. He’s been part of the passing game in recent practices and was given an end-around hand-off he took for a big gain Saturday.
49ers make roster moves
San Francisco on Saturday parted with receiver Max McCaffery, who struggled to distinguish himself during training camp, and brought in former Houston Texans receiver Chris Thompson.
Thompson appeared in 13 games in 2017 after signing with Houston as an undrafted free agent before getting waived during final cuts last season. He played for Florida.
The 49ers also signed defensive lineman Jay Bromley to take the roster spot of defensive defensive lineman Kapron Lewis-Moore, who went on injured reserve after suffering a groin injury earlier this week.
