KhaDarel Hodge, another former Raheem Morris player, joins the 49ers”Hodge lined up primarily on the outside with the Falcons. While he’s likely nothing more than a camp body, that nugget is important as it would allow De’Zhaun Stribling, or maybe Deebo Samuel, or whichever player they want to focus on getting more slot reps
It’s going to be a critical couple of weeks for players like Jacob Cowing and Junior Bergen. Both are fighting for that final roster spot at wideout. They’ll need to show they can win inside and outside. It shouldn’t be ruled out that if both excel, Christian Kirk might be the odd man out, even if it’s because of an injury. It also helps, in Cowing’s case, that he has the upper hand at punt returner — for now, at least.”
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<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7492068/2026/08/05/dre-greenlaw-49ers-broncos-injuries-altitude/” rel=”nofollow noopener” target=”_blank”>49ers’ Dre Greenlaw opens up on lost season with Broncos: ‘Fighting demons left and right’ (paywall)“I don’t blame anything on the Broncos,” he said. “Coming off the Achilles and the calf (injuries), I just wasn’t in the shape that I needed to be to go out there with them and give it all I got. I should have taken it slow. (But) naturally, they’d just paid me, so that’s all I wanted to do — go show them what I could do. And it bit me in the ass, the second day I got there.”
Similarly, Greenlaw owns his failure to master Joseph‘s scheme
“I know what I could have done better, as far as being in that film,” he said. “That’s where I feel like I let myself and everybody down.”
…”Dre, he grew up different, and I always felt like he thrived in San Francisco because he had the right group of people who he trusted,” Al-Shaair said. “When you’re used to doing things the same way for so long, and you’ve been exposed to that gold standard, it’s tough to break that — even if you go to a building where people are good at what they do.”
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49ers interim head coach Chris Foerster shares Week 3 training camp updates“It seems like we’re very healthy. I mean, we have injuries. We have dings and bumps and bruises, and guys are missing practices. It’s yet to come up in anything I’ve heard. Doesn’t mean it hasn’t been discussed, but, shoot, I think it will be plenty. If you’re two deep at every position, you can practice. You can always adjust with the threes, one, two, threes. Threes are hard to stay healthy through the course of training camp, if you’re practicing football hard. If you’re not practicing football hard, you can get through camp easily without injuries, a couple muscles here and there. But if you’re practicing hitting, contact, style of football, whatever it is. So, yeah, that’s not come up at this point.”
49ers signing Ogbo Okoronkwo to bolster pass rush depth”Okoronkwo’s 2025 campaign was cut short after he suffered a season-ending triceps tear in Week 4. His last full season came in 2024 with the Browns, when he totaled 23 tackles, five tackles for loss, three sacks, and one forced fumble. Over two seasons in Cleveland, he recorded 7.5 sacks
His most productive season came in 2022 with the Texans, when he posted career highs with 44 tackles and five sacks
Across 81 career games (13 starts), Okoronkwo has compiled 132 tackles, 17 sacks, four forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, and four passes defensed.”
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The Good and Not So Good from Day 7 of 49ers Camp: Bosa and Greenlaw Miss a Day“By far the most physically gifted quarterback on the roster even though he’s the smallest quarterback on the roster. He’s just so quick and difficult to contain in the pocket, which is important for the 49ers, because they don’t provide much of a pocket. And when it’s time to throw, Purdy is making outstanding decisions with the ball. He hasn’t forced a pass into coverage in more than a week. Unfortunately for him, his best receiver remains his running back, and his best wide receiver currently is Jordan Watkins….Now that Mike Evans, Ricky Pearsall and Jacob Cowing are injured, the 49ers’ top-three healthy wide receivers on the depth chart are Demarcus Robinson, Deebo Samuel and Jordan Watkins. And today, the best of those three clearly was Watkins, who caught a deep touchdown pass from Purdy during 11-on-11s. Of these three healthy wide receivers, Watkins is the youngest, the fastest, the quickest, and the best route runner. He can beat you with a quick slant or a post over the top. The only area of the field where he struggles is over the middle, because he’s not particularly big. Still, he’s improving.”
ESPN proposes 49ers trade for All-Pro safety Jessie Bates“They would risk losing Bates without getting a compensatory pick in return if he walks in free agency,” Walder added. “So it’s better for Atlanta to deal him now….San Francisco would be giving up real draft capital for a short-term player, but that’s an indicator of Bates’ skill and the fact that his contract would cost the 49ers only $13 million in 2026 — a below-market price to sign a player of his caliber,” Walder wrote.”
Early 49ers training camp trends: CB, LB groups look fierce; DE already an issue (paywall)”Thanks to newcomers Jack Jones, Nate Hobbs and rookie Ephesians Prysock, it’s a deep group. And it’s a group that’s being allowed to play to its feisty strength
The biggest critique of San Francisco’s defense in recent years is that it’s been too static and predictable. Robert Saleh, who implemented the system in 2017, preferred to keep things simple because he wanted his players to be fast and aggressive
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….A more aggressive style of cornerback play has been apparent in the first few practices. It’s a style that seems to fit starters Deommodore Lenoir, Renardo Green and Upton Stout, all of whom see themselves as “dogs” on defense. (Well, Lenoir sees himself as a hyena, which is doglike.)”
