SANTA CLARA, Calif. — When the San Francisco 49ers face the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 1, they’ll likely use one nickel cornerback, Isaiah Oliver, against bigger opponents and another, Deommodore Lenoir, against shiftier ones.
John Lynch doesn’t see that as a weakness. He sees it as versatility.
“My experience is that you’ll need them all at some point during the season,” the team’s general manager said Wednesday. “It’s good to have some depth, and I think we have good depth at that position.”
Advertisement
That’s also how defensive coordinator Steve Wilks has tried to spin the situation. In March, the 49ers signed Oliver to a two-year, $6.65 million contract, an amount that suggests they thought he’d be a full-time player in that role. With three weeks to go before the start of the season, however, they began working Lenoir into the mix.
GO DEEPER
Deommodore Lenoir has vaulted to top option for the 49ers at nickelback
Lynch rejected the notion that Oliver has been “shaky” this summer.
“I don’t see it as that. I see a player who’s adjusting to the way we play, and we’re very excited about Isaiah,” he said. “I think Isaiah brings some unique skill sets to the nickel position with his length and abilities. He also has some flex to play safety when we get in a pinch. So you’re always looking for optionality, versatility at positions.”
Wednesday, the 49ers added some depth at the position via the practice squad.
They signed one of their own players, Qwuantrezz Knight, who played nickel cornerback early in training camp. And they’re bringing in former Green Bay Packers cornerback Shemar Jean-Charles, a fifth-round pick in 2021. He’s appeared in 20 games over the last two seasons, though mainly on special teams.
“He has outside-inside versatility, plays some nickel, plays some outside, has some speed, and a very good special teams player,” Lynch said. “And when you’re going to be vying to be a flex or be developed, that special teams value is really huge.”
Lynch and Kyle Shanahan met with reporters Wednesday to go over the roster and the 16-man practice squad. Here are the highlights:
The 49ers' practice squad (for now). Team can keep 17 because of an international player exemption for Alfredo Gutierrez. pic.twitter.com/ZbBgqktE6d
— Matt Barrows (@mattbarrows) August 31, 2023
• Lynch said kicker Jake Moody is “tracking well” as far as his recovery from a quadriceps strain but the team likely will add a kicker to the practice squad in the coming days.
Earlier in the week the 49ers worked out a pair of kickers, Tristan Vizcaino and Taylor Russolino. It sounds like there might be other tryouts this weekend.
Advertisement
“We’ve got some things in motion with people traveling here,” Lynch said. “And I think we’ll have something here probably early next week.”
Lynch said Moody initially thought he was dealing with fatigue in his kicking leg.
“It turned out to be a little more than that,” he said. “And I’m just glad he talked with the trainers. We were able to address it, and now he’s on the path to getting better. I still believe we’ve got a rare talent at that position who’s going to be our answer there for a long, long time.”
• The 49ers lost several young players they were hoping to add to the practice squad, beginning with rookie cornerback D’Shawn Jamison. The Carolina Panthers claimed Jamison off waivers, and he is now behind Jaycee Horn, Donte Jackson, Troy Hill and CJ Henderson on their active roster.
Shanahan said Jamison, who went undrafted out of Texas, lost some momentum toward the end of training camp. He didn’t help himself by muffing a punt in the second preseason game and then allowing himself to be hit from behind on a return later in the contest.
“But I definitely wish we could’ve kept him here, so I was bummed about that this morning,” Shanahan said.
Meanwhile, the Arizona Cardinals claimed a league-high six players off waivers, including two 49ers, center Keith Ismael and tackle Ilm Manning. Manning grew up in Glendale, Ariz., and worked out — at center — for the Cardinals during their local pro day.
The Cardinals nearly signed Knight to their practice squad later Wednesday, but he returned to the 49ers instead. He’s the only safety on the practice squad.
The 49ers won’t trade Nick Bosa amid his contract holdout, GM John Lynch said Wednesday.
The DE is entering the fifth and final year of his rookie contract.
What’s the holdup? @LombardiHimself explains.https://t.co/uqKEXniZFa
— The Athletic NFL (@TheAthleticNFL) August 30, 2023
• Two other 49ers joined other teams’ practice squads. Linebacker Marcelino McCrary-Ball signed with the New York Jets, and guard Joey Fisher is joining the Pittsburgh Steelers. McCrary-Ball’s chances of landing a 53-man spot in San Francisco diminished when the team used draft picks on a pair of linebackers, Dee Winters and Jalen Graham.
Advertisement
• Why wasn’t Brock Purdy throwing much in Monday’s practice? Because this is a “de-load” week for the quarterback, Lynch said. He said in a typical week Purdy might throw the ball 700 times. He’ll cut that in half this week as part of a long-standing plan to get him ready for the season after elbow surgery.
“This week was going to be set up for — let’s freshen it back up and give him the opportunity to go into the season as fresh as he can be,” he said. “I don’t have a crystal ball, but I would imagine he will go into next week feeling a lot better just because the volume was reduced on him this week. And it’s all part of the plan.”
• The 49ers will enter the season with three quarterbacks on the active roster. Shanahan said the team had “pretty good knowledge” their third passer, Brandon Allen, would have been signed away elsewhere had they tried to move him to the practice squad.
“If there was a third quarterback out there you could put on your practice squad you felt as good with, then it wouldn’t be an issue,” he said. “But when he’s going to get claimed, and (the way) we feel about him, it was important to keep him.”
• The 49ers are entering the season without a true “swing” tackle — a player who can fill in as needed at left or right tackle. One backup, Jaylon Moore, has played exclusively on the left. The other, Matt Pryor, has been a right tackle only.
Shanahan said the team will begin cross-training them.
“They both prefer where they’re at, but you don’t always have that luxury,” he said. “So now we know they’re both on our team. We’ve got to keep preparing them to play both.”
• The 49ers placed wide receiver Danny Gray (shoulder) and defensive end Robert Beal Jr. (hamstring) on injured reserve, meaning they must miss at least the first four games. The team signed defensive linemen Kerry Hyder Jr. and Austin Bryant in their place.
Advertisement
Shanahan said another receiver, Ray-Ray McCloud III (wrist), has an outside shot at facing the Steelers, his former team. If he can’t play, rookie Ronnie Bell likely will handle punt returns.
• Three members of the team’s rookie class — Beal, tight end Cameron Latu (knee) and cornerback Darrell Luter Jr. (knee) — will start the season on an injured list. Because Latu was placed on injured reserve as part of the 49ers’ effort to get down to 53 players, his season is over.
Lynch said Latu likely will have surgery to repair what he described as “a mechanical issue in the knee” and that he’d essentially redshirt his rookie season.
“The good news is Cam got better throughout camp and we’re very excited about him moving forward,” he said. “But this is going to be a year of growth for him, and he’s got to embrace it.”
That means the team’s tight ends are largely the same as they were last season with the difference being that seventh-round pick Brayden Willis is on the roster and last year’s No. 2 tight end, Tyler Kroft, is not. Kroft signed with the Miami Dolphins on Wednesday.
• George Kittle, who played 12 snaps against the Los Angeles Chargers on Friday, hasn’t practiced this week. Shanahan said Kittle still is dealing with the aftereffects of the groin injury that caused him to miss a chunk of training camp. The plan is to keep Kittle out of practice this week in the hope he practices Monday.
Fellow starters Dre Greenlaw (hamstring) and Talanoa Hufanga (knee cyst) also were absent Wednesday. Two 49ers, safety George Odum (shoulder) and receiver Chris Conley (shoulder), practiced in blue no-contact jerseys.
(Top photo of Isaiah Oliver: Sergio Estrada / USA Today)
“The Football 100,” the definitive ranking of the NFL’s best 100 players of all time, goes on sale this fall. Preorder it here.
