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Aug 14, 2026
49ers
Camp Notebook

Bryce Hall And Corey Mayfield Jr. Won A UFL Title Together. On Friday They Were Auditioning In Santa Clara.

Nate Hobbs is out a few weeks with a groin, Jack Jones left Thursday's game with a hand after eight snaps, and Marques Sigle left it with an oblique after 26. The three defensive backs the 49ers worked out on Friday include two former NFL draft picks and the reigning UFL interception leader. Nobody was signed, and at 90 players against a limit of 90, signing one would cost somebody else his job.

SK
Sam KezarAug 14, 20263 min read
Every call on this site goes on a public ledger and gets graded. The misses stay up.
A San Francisco player in the club's white and red practice jersey and a red headband, crouched with one hand on a yard line during a stretching period at the team's Santa Clara facility, gold helmets lined up along the same line beside him and teammates out of focus behind. An offseason practice photograph, not from Thursday's game.

Nate Hobbs pulled a groin at Tuesday's joint practice with Tennessee and did not dress on Thursday. Jack Jones left the preseason opener with a hand injury after eight defensive snaps. Marques Sigle left the same game with an oblique after 26. On Friday afternoon the 49ers had three other defensive backs in the building, and two of them had just won a championship together somewhere else.

The tryouts, and this is not three anonymous bodies. Bryce Hall, Troy Pride Jr. and Corey Mayfield Jr. worked out for San Francisco, reported by David Bonilla at 49ers Webzone off the NFL's daily transaction report and published at 2:32 p.m. PT Friday. Two of the three were teammates ten weeks ago. Hall, the Jets' fifth-round pick in 2020 and a starter there across four seasons before two years with Tampa Bay, signed with the UFL's Louisville Kings in February and won the league title with them. Mayfield Jr. was the other half of that secondary: undrafted out of UTSA, 22 tackles and four interceptions for Louisville this year, tied for first in the UFL, and named to the All-UFL team in the league's own announcement on June 4. Pride Jr. is the most travelled of the three, a fourth-round Carolina pick in the same 2020 draft that took Hall in the fifth, two seasons with the Panthers and then practice squads in New Orleans, Las Vegas, Houston, Dallas and Indianapolis, the last of those in December.

Nobody was signed off the group, and the roster is why that is not a small step. The club's own transaction log still carried Wednesday's six moves as its newest entry by mid-afternoon. San Francisco has been at 90 chargeable players against a limit of 90 for ten straight days, counted bucket by bucket this afternoon. There is no empty chair to put any of these men in: signing one means somebody already in the building loses his job the same day. That is the difference between working a player out and wanting him.

What the coach said about the three who are hurt. Kyle Shanahan, after Thursday's game: "Nate Hobbs in the practice versus the Titans pulled his groin. So, he's going to be a few weeks." On the other two he gave the body part and nothing else: "CB Jack Jones had a hand, didn't return," and "[S Marques] Sigle, oblique, didn't return." Neither has a timeline and neither has a designation. Hobbs, No. 22, and Sigle, No. 36, are both inside this site's 53-man projection. Jones, No. 25, has been outside it all camp and has been one of the better stories in it, which Bonilla put plainly on Friday in calling him a surprise standout.

Kurtis Rourke was released from the hospital. The club announced Thursday night that its quarterback had been discharged, after sending him at halftime because he was struggling to breathe. Shanahan's stadium X-rays showed no break: "X-rays in here didn't show it was broken or anything, but we'll see what we find out tomorrow." Friday came, and no result of that further imaging has been published. Rourke, No. 14, took 26 offensive snaps and completed 12 of 14 for 101 yards before he left.

The quarterback room, as it stood Thursday. Brock Purdy and Mac Jones did not dress, which left Adrian Martinez as the only other available passer. He played 51 snaps.

Left guard was not tested, because the two men in the competition were on opposite sides of the ball. Robert Jones, No. 65, started at left guard and took all 44 of the first unit's snaps. Connor Colby, No. 75, took the same 44 at right guard. Kyle Posey, publishing the snap counts at Niners Nation on Friday at 1:30 p.m. PT, headlines it as more questions than answers, and on Jones he is mixed and specific: one pressure allowed, one penalty, and a player he reads as likely to get in the way and survive without having looked bad. The 33-snap second group in his list carries no left guard at all, and Carver Willis, who has taken the second-team reps there in camp, is listed at left tackle.

Jordan Watkins played 58 offensive snaps. Jacob Cowing played none. Watkins, No. 17, led the team, lined up wide on 92.3 percent of those snaps per Posey, caught five for 58 yards, and took five more as the return man. Cowing, No. 6, appears nowhere in the snap counts and nowhere in the box score. He carried a hip flexor on August 5 and the club has published no reason since. The two of them are the sixth-receiver competition.

Ephesians Prysock led the defense in playing time, 53 snaps, with Darrell Luter Jr., No. 28, and Jakob Robinson, No. 43, at 45 apiece. Posey has Prysock, No. 35, allowing two catches for 19 yards on six targets and breaking up a pass in the end zone.

There was no practice. No account of a Friday session had been published anywhere by mid-afternoon, and the club's own practice and media schedule for the week ended at Thursday's 6 p.m. kickoff without listing anything after it. Shanahan said the starters who sat would be fresh for Saturday.

On the 53-man tracker. One grade moved, Hobbs from 7 to 6 on a stated timeline, and he stays inside the projection. Jones, Sigle and Rourke hold, because a named injury with no timeline does not move a number here. Nobody crossed the cut line.

Sources: Kyle Shanahan's post-game transcript, August 13, at 49ers Webzone. David Bonilla, 49ers Webzone, August 13 and August 14. Kyle Posey, Niners Nation, August 14, 1:30 p.m. PT, for all snap counts and alignment percentages. The club's roster page for jersey numbers and its transaction log for the absence of a signing, both read August 14. ESPN's box score for the preseason opener. For the three tryout players: their NFL draft records and team histories, the United Football League's own All-UFL announcement of June 4, 2026, and the league's published 2026 statistics for Corey Mayfield Jr. Nobody from this site was at the game or at any practice.

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Week 1 Takeaways

San Francisco Stopped The Rams On Fourth And One At Its Own 1, Then Drove 99 Yards

The 49ers opened 1-0 with a 27-7 win over the Rams at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Thursday evening in the Bay Area and Friday morning in Australia. Los Angeles reached the San Francisco 1 in the third quarter and turned the ball over on downs; San Francisco answered with an 11-play, 99-yard touchdown drive. Connor Colby started at left guard and the whole line played every snap, George Kittle played 30 of 65 in his return, Kaelon Black carried more often than Christian McCaffrey, and De'Zhaun Stribling started at receiver without being thrown to. Nine takeaways off the official game book.

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San Francisco Stopped The Rams On Fourth And One At Its Own 1, Then Drove 99 Yards
Depth Chart

Connor Colby And Kaelon Black Fill The Two Jobs Shanahan Called Fluid

San Francisco's public depth chart carried an empty box at left guard from August 27 until this week. Read at 2:52 p.m. Pacific on Sunday, it is stamped 09/4/26 and lists Connor Colby first at left guard and Carver Willis second. It also lists Kaelon Black second at running back ahead of Jordan James, which is the other job Kyle Shanahan called fluid on August 31, and George Kittle and Nick Bosa as starters. Colby was the incumbent in July, was passed by Robert Jones and then by Willis in August, and is first again on the club's own page. Jarrett Patterson, traded for to compete at guard, is listed second at center. The chart predates three roster moves and has one empty box left, at long snapper. The first Melbourne practice is Sunday at 7:50 p.m. Pacific.

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Connor Colby And Kaelon Black Fill The Two Jobs Shanahan Called Fluid
Camp Battles

The 49ers Have Two Depth Charts And Only One Of Them Has A Left Guard

The depth chart at 49ers.com carries twenty-nine position rows and a name in the first column of twenty-eight of them. Left guard is the twenty-ninth, its first column is empty, and the page stamps itself August 27, which was eight days ago. A separate one-page sheet dated September 2 lists Connor Colby first at left guard and Carver Willis second, and the club does not publish it: the media site its own pronunciation guide points to refuses a request from outside. Kyle Madson of Niners Wire reports that the sheet is assembled by the communications staff with no input from the coaches and binds nobody. Kyle Shanahan said on August 31 that he did not know who starts, and nothing since has replaced that. Seven of the seventy-two men still named on the club's live chart are on the September 2 sheet's injured reserve list, three of them offensive linemen.

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The 49ers Have Two Depth Charts And Only One Of Them Has A Left Guard

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The rookie receiver

De'Zhaun Stribling Is Out At Least A Month, And Injured Reserve Would Cost At Most One Game More

De'Zhaun Stribling has a deltoid sprain in his ankle and is out at least a month, Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reported Sunday morning; the rookie is still seeking opinions and may need surgery, though none is planned. San Francisco has filed nothing: read at 4:50 p.m. Pacific Sunday, the club's transaction log still ends on September 10 and Stribling is still on the Active table. The reported month rules him out of Miami on September 20, Arizona on September 27 and Denver on October 4 whether he goes on injured reserve or not. The four-game minimum that comes with the designation adds at most one more, October 11 at Lumen Field, and Christian Kirk becomes eligible to return from injured reserve for that same game. The first club document that has to say anything is Wednesday's injury report; Nick Avila of NBC Sports Bay Area reported that the players do not practise until then. Behind Stribling the active roster carries Mike Evans, Demarcus Robinson, Deebo Samuel, Jacob Cowing and Jordan Watkins, and Watkins was inactive in Melbourne. One take filed, priced at -120.

Sam KezarSep 13, 20264 min read
De'Zhaun Stribling Is Out At Least A Month, And Injured Reserve Would Cost At Most One Game More
The rookie

The Right Denominator For De'Zhaun Stribling's First Game Is Twenty-Six, Not Sixty-Five

De'Zhaun Stribling, the wide receiver San Francisco took with the 33rd pick in April, was hurt in his first professional game and the 49ers have published nothing about him since. The official participation report has him at 21 offensive snaps of 65, which is 32 percent. Counted against the 26 plays from scrimmage San Francisco ran before the snap he was injured on, it is 21 of 26, or 81 percent. The count reconciles to 65 at the end of the game once the second-quarter roughing-the-passer penalty is included, which is the check on it. He was not targeted on any of the 21. Six 49ers receivers took an offensive snap in Melbourne: Mike Evans 49, Demarcus Robinson 41, Deebo Samuel 27, Stribling 21, Jacob Cowing 5 and KhaDarel Hodge 1. Tight end Luke Farrell played 46, more than every receiver but Evans, and fullback Kyle Juszczyk played 33, more than Samuel. Four of the five other receivers who played are 30 or older. Kyle Shanahan said after the game that the Achilles was checked and intact and that the club was not sure of the magnitude of the ankle injury; further testing waited on the flight home, which David Bonilla of 49ers Webzone clocked at 13 hours 46 minutes, landing at SFO at 3:06 p.m. Friday. San Francisco's next game is Miami at Levi's Stadium on Sunday, September 20, at 1:25 p.m. Pacific, and the 49ers traded down twice in April, first with Miami, to reach the pick they spent on Stribling. No take filed.

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Practice Notebook

Nick Bosa And Christian McCaffrey Did No Drills In The Open Portion Of The First Melbourne Practice

Nick Bosa and Christian McCaffrey did not take part in drills during the portion of San Francisco's first Melbourne practice open to reporters, per Matt Maiocco at NBC Sports Bay Area and Matt Barrows at The Athletic. San Francisco plays the Rams at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Thursday at 5:35 p.m. Pacific. Reporters leave before team drills, and the club was not required to file a participation report, so what either man did after that is not public. Shanahan said the time difference meant he did not have to talk about injuries until the following day, and did not. George Kittle and Mike Evans practised. Barrows listed six men back from injury: Renardo Green, Romello Height, Jacob Cowing, Vederian Lowe, Gracen Halton and Luke Gifford. Five of the six who sat out the September 2 practice in Santa Clara are on that list; James Thompson Jr. is on no list either way. The club named eight captains, all eight returning from 2025, and Bosa and McCaffrey are two of them. Brayden Willis is back on the practice squad, which now sits at seventeen.

Sam KezarSep 7, 20265 min read
Nick Bosa And Christian McCaffrey Did No Drills In The Open Portion Of The First Melbourne Practice

On the record

Called Shots →
Held upJul 27, 2026

Connor Colby is the 49ers' starting left guard in the Week 1 game against the Los Angeles Rams on 2026-09-10. Scored off the official starting lineup for that game: Colby listed at left guard is a hit, any other player listed at left guard is a miss, including if Colby is unavailable through injury.

Made in the Camp Battles left guard primer. The basis is incumbency plus the calendar: Colby took all of the first-team left guard reps at the opening practice (Wagoner, ESPN, Jul 26), has roughly 450 snaps in this offense from six starts as a rookie, and Robert Jones has none while coming off a 2025 season lost to a neck injury. The call is genuinely at risk, and the falsifier is named in the piece: Jones opening the August 13 preseason game against Tennessee with the starters. Hurley's Niners Nation board already has Jones starting and Colby at backup right guard.

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Week 2 Analysis

Opponents have reached the 49ers' red zone five times and scored one touchdown

Two days after the 35-13 win over Miami, the two game books describe a defense that is hard to finish against and easy to move against. Opponents have gained 5.1 yards a play in both games and reached the San Francisco 20 five times for one touchdown. Miami spent 19:17 on its first three possessions and got six points, twice reaching goal to go and twice kicking. San Francisco's first four sacks of the season came either inside its own red zone or with a lead of 15 or more, and Nick Bosa is credited with none of them, and with no quarterback hit either, on 40 of 59 defensive snaps. PFF's charting of the same game puts him ahead of every other 49er in total pressures.

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Week 2 takeaways: five touchdowns before San Francisco's first punt

San Francisco is 2-0 after a 35-13 win over Miami in the home opener. The 49ers scored touchdowns on their first five drives and did not punt until 10:38 of the fourth quarter. Purdy was 20 of 22 for 287 yards and two touchdowns with a 149.1 rating and no sack taken. The defense recorded four sacks after none in Week 1, from Marques Sigle, Keion White, Romello Height and a Warner-Stout split, none from Bosa. Miami had first and goal twice and came away with six points. Eddy Piñeiro, the kicker the week was spent on, attempted no field goal.

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49ers Roster

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49ers Notebook

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Kyle Shanahan spoke before Wednesday's practice, his first availability since the flight home from Melbourne, and answered the two questions the opener left open. De'Zhaun Stribling had ankle surgery and will miss close to ten weeks, a window that covers nine games. Jake Tonges had knee surgery, is out for the season and went on injured reserve Wednesday. KhaDarel Hodge was promoted to the 53-man roster in the same transaction and Jack Stoll signed to the practice squad, one day after the club worked him out. Shanahan said San Francisco does not need to add a receiver. Stribling was still on the club's Active table at 4:53 p.m. Pacific.

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Roster

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San Francisco carries nine defensive linemen on its active roster and eight of them were on the Qantas A380 that landed at Melbourne Airport at 7:50 a.m. local time on Friday. Sam Okuayinonu was not. The club announced shortly before departure that he would stay behind with a foot injury and designated him questionable for the opener against the Rams rather than ruling him out, per Michael David Smith at Pro Football Talk, who writes that he may fly separately if the foot responds to treatment. Okuayinonu started twelve games last season, which is twelve of the fifteen starts in his career. Three of the eight who travelled sat out Wednesday's last practice in Santa Clara: Gracen Halton and Romello Height with ankles, James Thompson Jr. undisclosed. A fourth, Nick Bosa, took team reps on Wednesday for the first time since August 3. The club signed two defensive linemen to its practice squad on September 1, hosted a defensive tackle on a visit on September 2, and reached an injury settlement with Victor Dimukeje on Thursday.

Sam KezarSep 3, 20264 min read
Eight Of San Francisco's Nine Defensive Linemen Landed In Melbourne
Roster

One Of The Ninety Is Listed Two Different Ways

San Francisco signed defensive lineman Xavier Thomas to a one-year deal on August 12. The club's own roster page carried him on its active table on Thursday afternoon with no jersey number published, and Spotrac carried him on injured reserve at the same hour, with no transaction anywhere to explain the difference. The 49ers go into Thursday's preseason opener against Tennessee at exactly 90 chargeable players: 88 on the active table, three on Active/PUP, and one international-pathway exemption that does not count until the cut to 53. K.J. Henry, waived with an injury designation on Wednesday, appears on none of the club's four roster tables. Three of the 88 have no jersey number published, and all three signed on Wednesday. The 53-man projection still totals 52.

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One Of The Ninety Is Listed Two Different Ways