The 49ers' First Depth Chart Lists Demarcus Robinson As A Starting Receiver

San Francisco released its first unofficial depth chart of the season on Tuesday morning and then held its first joint practice of camp, against the Tennessee Titans, in Santa Clara.

Demarcus Robinson is on the chart as a starting receiver. Kyle Posey and Rohan Chakravarthi, writing at Niners Nation at 10:01 a.m. PT, marked how far that is from where he started: a few weeks ago the debate was whether Robinson would make the roster at all, and a run of injuries has made him a lock. They read the alignment as Robinson at X in Mike Evans' absence, Deebo Samuel at Z in Ricky Pearsall's, and De'Zhaun Stribling in the slot.

The chart is a club document, not a coaching one. David Bonilla noted at 49ers Webzone that the communications staff compiles it and the coaching staff does not typically review it before it goes out.

It is also, mostly, an injury report. Robinson is listed above Christian Kirk, who signed in March, strained his calf in the first practice of camp and, per the club's own account of Tuesday, is still sidelined with it. He has not practised a session all summer. Robinson is at a starting spot in the first place because Ricky Pearsall has been on injured reserve since August 1 after season-ending knee surgery, a move Kyle Shanahan called the only real one of the camp: "We've had a number of injuries in camp, but that's really the only one that's actually been not just a camp injury." And the man the club signed to headline the room, Mike Evans, put a uniform on Tuesday and did not compete. The chart's top three receivers are there in the order the medical staff left them.

Two accounts of the same page disagree about Stribling. Bonilla reads it as Evans at one starting spot, Robinson and Samuel sharing the other, and Christian Kirk and Stribling listed as backups. Niners Nation reads Robinson, Samuel and Stribling as a single cluster of three. Both were published Tuesday morning, and they do not reconcile.

Then the counts of Stribling's afternoon came out, and they do not agree either. Grant Cohn, at the session for Sports Illustrated, had him at a team-high seven receptions in 11-on-11 work and called him Brock Purdy's go-to target. The club's own practice report counts differently, putting Robinson, Stribling and Deebo Samuel at five apiece in team periods and naming no leader. Two counts of one afternoon, and neither publishes its rules, so this is a piece of arithmetic nobody outside the building can settle. Cohn also wrote that Renardo Green shut down Carnell Tate, the fourth pick of the draft. The number underneath that: Tate finished with three catches by the count of Jim Wyatt, the Titans' senior writer, who had Xavier Restrepo at five and Chimere Dike at four.

Evans was in uniform and did not play. Nick Wagoner reported before the session that Evans was warming up after a quad issue, which Bonilla carried Tuesday morning. Cohn, watching the practice, wrote that Evans suited up and did not compete against Tennessee.

Bosa's soreness has a name now#

Fifth consecutive missed practice, per Bonilla. The club's own report puts it plainly: Bosa was at training camp on Tuesday and was not suited up. Its explanation grew a word. Kyle Shanahan, afterward: "Just soreness, tendinitis. It's a pretty normal thing with ACLs." Pro Football Talk's transcription of the same availability adds that Shanahan said he had been told it happens about 90 percent of the time, and that he has no concerns about it being anything more than that. Bosa tore the ACL in his right knee on September 21 and had surgery on September 26.

Christian McCaffrey missed a second straight practice with tightness and watched from the sideline. Shanahan said he is not worried, and then described what worrying would look like: "My concern would be him toughing through tightness, like a lot of people do, and then hurting something bad, and then pulling something, which then, it could be a month."

Thursday, and the two clubs are not planning the same game#

Shanahan, on his starters: "There won't be many starters playing. We'll see, with injuries today and stuff, and that doesn't mean none. But we've got to balance that out." He said the plan was set and the players had not been told yet.

Robert Saleh is doing the opposite. Tennessee's head coach, who ran San Francisco's defense last season, said he plans to play every healthy player, and for more than a series. Kickoff is 6 p.m. PT at Levi's Stadium on KPIX.

Two Tennessee tackles were thrown out#

Two Tennessee offensive tackles were ejected. Austin Deculus went on the first series and Dan Moore Jr. followed later, both in scuffles during 11-on-11 periods, per Wyatt, who counted mini-scraps on three of the first four plays and four of the first six. Saleh has a standing camp rule about throwing punches.

The largest one started with a 49ers hit. Green hit Tate hard after a catch early, Cam Ward ran over to defend his rookie receiver, and both rosters gathered to push and shove. "No matter who it was over there, we all were going to fly for each other," Tate said afterward, per Nick Gray of the Nashville Tennessean.

Ward and Fred Warner chirped at each other all afternoon. Wyatt reports that a Tennessee receivers coach eventually took hold of Ward's jersey and steered him away from Warner, who was giving it back, and that the two talked after practice, with Warner offering the rookie quarterback pointers.

Odds and ends#

Ji'Ayir Brown intercepted Ward on a ball over the middle, then handed it back to him and was flagged for taunting, per Cohn. Jakob Robinson made a diving interception on a Will Levis throw. Tennessee got two of its own, by Nazeeh Johnson and Mario Goodrich III, and Wyatt does not name the quarterbacks who threw them. He had Ward at 16 of 23 with one interception, on a ball behind Wan'Dale Robinson.

The scripted finish went to San Francisco. Tennessee took the ball down 25-21 with 50 seconds left and a Hail Mary fell incomplete.

The left guard alignment held. The depth chart lists Robert Jones as the starter. Cohn has Carver Willis as the second-string left guard and Connor Colby as the backup right guard behind Dominick Puni.

And the defense opened in a front the chart does not describe. Cohn had the starting defense beginning practice in a five-man front with rookie Jaden Dugger standing up on the line of scrimmage as the third linebacker, a look meant for two-tight-end sets. The unofficial depth chart lists Luke Gifford as the third starting linebacker.

Gifford was not at practice. The club's own report has him sidelined with a hamstring, on a list that also carries Kirk's calf, Keion White and Malik Mustapha, whom Bonilla reads on the chart as the starting defensive end opposite Bosa and one of the two starting safeties. Add Evans in uniform and not competing, and Bosa at camp and not dressed. On the morning San Francisco published its first depth chart of the season, the men it named as starters at receiver, defensive end, linebacker and safety were all unavailable to stand in the spots it gave them. The chart describes a roster. Tuesday described a team.

Nobody from this site was at the practice. Every observation above is credited to the reporter who filed it.

Sources: David Bonilla, 49ers Webzone (Aug 11); Kyle Posey and Rohan Chakravarthi, Niners Nation (Aug 11, 10:01 a.m. PT); Grant Cohn, Sports Illustrated (Aug 11); Jim Wyatt, TennesseeTitans.com (Aug 11); Nick Gray, Nashville Tennessean, via Yahoo Sports (Aug 11, 2:13 p.m. PT); Pro Football Talk (Aug 11); Nick Wagoner, ESPN (Aug 11); the club's own "Day 11 of 2026 Training Camp" practice report, its transaction log and its news pages, 49ers.com. Shanahan's line about Pearsall was said at his first podium since the July 14 car accident and reported by Matt Barrows of The Athletic.