HOUSTON — The 49ers running backs group that took the field in Houston on Wednesday morning looked a lot different than the one that practiced in Santa Clara earlier in the week.
For one, newcomer Alfred Morris was part of the session after signing with the 49ers a day earlier, and he was wearing his new No. 36 jersey. It also was the first practice this year in which Jeremy McNichols was the de facto lead runner.
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He was the first running back to hit the field in every practice period, followed by Joe Williams, Raheem Mostert, rookie Jeff Wilson and Morris, whose familiarity with Kyle Shanahan’s system from their time together in Washington allowed him to take a handful of snaps on his first full day with the team.
McNichols didn’t see any offensive snaps until late in Thursday’s preseason opener against the Dallas Cowboys. He was the fifth 49ers running back to enter the game. But he was prominent when he finally got his chance, beginning with a 9-yard run the first time he touched the ball. That carry brought the 49ers to the Cowboys’ 6-yard line, and two plays later McNichols dove into the end zone for a 1-yard score.
At this time last season, McNichols seemed lost and was given the role of Rookie Who Just Doesn’t Get It on HBO’s “Hard Knocks.” The Buccaneers drafted him in the fifth round out of Boise State, then told him at the end of the summer that he didn’t make their 53-man roster.
“All along, I had you penciled in as making it,” Buccaneers coach Dirk Koetter told him in his office, a scene captured on the show. “You’re good enough to play in the NFL, but something’s just not clicking right now.”
Tampa Bay wanted to put McNichols, who had rushed for 1,709 yards and scored 27 touchdowns the year before at Boise State, on its practice squad. He instead joined the 49ers practice squad, drawing ill will from Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht for his decision to bolt from Tampa Bay.
“McNichols got his feelings hurt,” Licht told Koetter on “Hard Knocks.” “If he’s going to mope and complain about being taken out of the game when he just made one mistake, we don’t want that kind of shit anyway.”
McNichols entered the NFL at 214 pounds last year. He’s lighter now and has the dual-threat ability — he caught 88 passes in his final two seasons at Boise State — that Shanahan wants in his offense.
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“That’s why they wanted me around 205 and 206 [pounds], so I cut down some body fat,” McNichols said after Thursday’s game. “I got quicker on my feet, lighter on my feet. I am a lot better in this offense this year than I was last year.”
Jerick McKinnon (calf) and Matt Breida (shoulder) already have been ruled out for Saturday’s preseason game against the Texans. Shanahan hasn’t said who will start, but it likely will be one of three little-known tailbacks: Williams, Mostert or McNichols.
Watt serves McGlinchey pancakes: Before heading to Houston, first-round pick Mike McGlinchey said he was more concerned about the infamous Houston “Heat Monster” than he was the Texans formidable pass rushers, which include 6-foot-5, 295-pound defensive lineman J.J. Watt.
It was Watt, not the heat, that knocked McGlinchey onto his backside on the first snap of 1-on-1 pass-rush drills. McGlinchey got off balance and the powerful Watt quickly pancaked him onto the turf for a decisive win.
McGlinchey, however, recovered nicely one snap later and held up better in two subsequent pass-rush drills against Watt. The two faced each other for most of the day in other sessions and Watt did not stand out in those.
Another notable Texans pass rusher, Jadeveon Clowney, left practice early to work with trainers inside the team’s indoor practice bubble.
Two-minute madness: If you were keeping score during a two-minute drill at the end of practice, you would have found that the 49ers came out on top. First, the team’s top defense won a fourth-down battle with Deshaun Watson and the Texans starters when cornerback Greg Mabin, substituting for ejected Jimmie Ward, broke up Watson’s fourth-and-2 pass.
Then Jimmy Garoppolo led the 49ers’ top offensive players on a long drive that included a deep crossing-pattern completion — it appears to be Garoppolo’s favorite throw — to Marquise Goodwin as well as another connection along the sideline to rookie Richie James. Inside the red zone, Garoppolo seemed to have seven seconds — an eternity — to throw, pump faking to the center of the end zone before turning to his right and finding Pierre Garçon in the corner for a touchdown.
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Playing the slots: The two busiest 49ers receivers on Wednesday were slot receivers Trent Taylor and James. Taylor appears to have returned to his 2017 form following offseason back surgery. During the team period in the middle of practice, Garoppolo connected on five straight passes. Three of them went to Taylor. Goodwin and tight end Cole Hikutini, who is filling in for injured George Kittle, had the others.
Odds and ends: The Garoppolo-to-Hikutini connection wasn’t exactly perfect. Later in the session, Texans safety Tyrann Mathieu broke on a short pass to the tight end, who tripped as the ball was on its way. Mathieu grabbed it out of the air and, had it been a game situation, likely would have scored a defensive touchdown. … Third-round pick Tarvarius Moore had a nice pass break-up when the Texans second-string was running its two-minute drill. … All of the 49ers, even the injured ones, have made the trip to Houston. McKinnon, for instance, worked on a boxing drill with strength coach Ray Wright at the end of practice.
Beat the heat: Practice began at 9:15 a.m. in an effort to stay out of the midday heat. The practice was long — 14 periods and nearly two hours — but there also were long, five-minute breaks between periods. At least two 49ers, nose tackle Earl Mitchell and tackle Joe Staley, decided to get an IV drip before practice. The 49ers are holding their walk-through sessions at the University of Houston and are doing so late in the day to avoid the sun.
Quote of the day: “I feel like he came out of the womb a grown man. He’s straight business. He’s got objectives, he’s got goals and he’s a grown man. That’s what Earl is and he’s been that since the first day I met him.” — Defensive coordinator Robert Saleh on nose tackle Earl Mitchell. Saleh was a defensive assistant with the Texans when they drafted Mitchell in 2010.
(Top photo: Tony Avelar/AP)
