{"id":5534,"date":"2026-07-26T21:12:32","date_gmt":"2026-07-26T21:12:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5534"},"modified":"2026-07-26T21:12:32","modified_gmt":"2026-07-26T21:12:32","slug":"kyle-shanahans-cameo-at-49ers-practice-draws-players-reactions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5534","title":{"rendered":"Kyle Shanahan’s cameo at 49ers practice draws players’ reactions"},"content":{"rendered":"
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SANTA CLARA \u2013 Kyle Shanahan stood next to John Lynch deep in the defensive backfield, which is not an odd sight at 49ers practice.<\/p>\n

Read more \u2018San Francisco is home\u2019: Jeff Kent inducted into National Baseball Hall of Fame<\/a><\/p>\n

Sunday was different, though. Shanahan\u2019s 10th training camp as the 49ers\u2019 coach began with him strictly a distant bystander during a 45-minute cameo.<\/p>\n

As he recovers from a July 14 car collision, his head-coaching duties are spread among his staff, starting with Chris Foerster as the temporary frontman while still the offensive line\u2019s coach.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew it would be tough to keep him away from there,\u201d left tackle Trent Williams said of seeing Shanahan on the field. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be hard for him to get his rest. He\u2019s not that type of person. It doesn\u2019t surprise me at all to seem out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shanahan emerged once team drills began and, per usual protocol, media cameras were shut off.<\/p>\n

Because of a concussion, Shanahan shaded himself from the South Bay sun with a black cap and sunglasses, complemented by a thick mustache that resembled Tom Selleck. \u201cI told him he had a great \u2018stache with the sunglasses on,\u201d linebacker Fred Warner said. \u201cBut no, he looks good. It\u2019s good to see him out there. He seems to be in great spirits.\u201d<\/p>\n

Because of a broken left hand, the 10th-year coach sported a small cast near his wrist, while his right hand held a practice script, and the rest of his slim frame looked healthy in his typical shorts and T-shirt.<\/p>\n

Because of his beloved status among veterans, he was greeted first by fullback Kyle Juszczyk then Warner between drills. Warner said he learned about the car crash a day afterward from Shanahan\u2019s wife, Mandy, adding: \u201cLuckily everyone seems to be on the up-and-up and doing well. I\u2019m sure Kyle is itching to get back. There\u2019s no rush. It\u2019s business as usual.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Williams said he only learned of Shanahan\u2019s incident through Saturday\u2019s social-media blasts, adding: \u201cSeeing how jacked up he was, I don\u2019t blame him for not picking up the phone and sending out a mass alert, \u2018I\u2019ve been in a wreck.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

Foerster handled Shanahan\u2019s duties in terms of breaking down the post-practice huddle and then debriefing the media, though that later assignment will fall on coordinators Klay Kubiak (offense) and Raheem Morris (defense) after the next two practices.<\/p>\n

Foerster, who\u2019s worked under both Kyle and his father Mike Shanahan since 2010 in Washington, said he didn\u2019t learn about his expanded role until the 49ers announced it Saturday morning in conjunction with the public revelation about Shanahan\u2019s two-car collision, which occurred at a Palo Alto intersection with neither driver cited nor suspected of being under drugs or alcohol.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew we\u2019d all have to pick up the slack. You just don\u2019t know how every day, the thing can flip, and he can do more and more,\u201d Foerster, 64, said. \u201cWe always knew it would be a group effort. We talked for days before, \u2018What if he couldn\u2019t do it?\u2019\u00a0 Klay, Raheem, we were all talking how we could fill in the blanks if needed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Foerster expressed gratitude at the beefier role and with Shanahan\u2019s advice to, well, do as he pleases or simply delegate. That is, until Shanahan returns to full health, which should be sooner than later, and definitely before the Sept. 11 season opener.<\/p>\n

Read more US pauses attacks on Iran for a second straight day and Tehran does too<\/a><\/p>\n

Added Foerster: \u201cEverybody\u2019s kind of tongue-in-cheek, \u2018Hey, head coach, how are you doing?\u2019 No, I\u2019m the O-line coach, and I\u2019m helping the rest of the guys.\u201d<\/p>\n

Instead of Shanahan relaying play calls to the quarterback, Kubiak did so with a walkie-talkie, while Morris oversaw the defense as their new coordinator and while other position coaches went along with business as usual.<\/p>\n

On one play, Shanahan\u2019s eyes locked on wide receiver Ricky Pearsall along the left sideline against Darrell Luter Jr\u2019s coverage, and sure enough Pearsall drew Mac Jones\u2019 target for a catch, as seemingly scripted. \u00a0A few plays later, after safety Malik Mustapha nearly intercepted a deep pass, Morris jogged over to Shanahan to relay praise about Mustapha\u2019s range.<\/p>\n

Shanahan headed off the field about five minutes before practice ended, leaving Foerster to break down the team. \u201cI talked about how fired up I was to be a part of this team and how much I love the way they practice, the energy they bring every day,\u201d Foerster said.<\/p>\n

Williams noted the 49ers\u2019 veteran corps helps cover for Shanahan, so that \u201cit can be on autopilot. We\u2019ve got that locker room.\u201d<\/p>\n

BOSA\u2019S COMEBACK<\/strong><\/p>\n

Defensive end Nick Bosa, in his first practice since last September\u2019s right ACL tear, looked as sharp as ever in his agility drills and sprints. Bosa did warm-up drills with defensive line then returned to individual conditioning rather than participate in 11-on-11 action.<\/p>\n

\u201cI see him every day. I can\u2019t even tell that he had an injury or he came back from anything,\u201d Williams said. \u201d You know, most people with a knee injury that catastrophic, you come back, you can see something, right? You can see it in the atrophy in the muscle in the leg. You can see something. Bosa looks better than he did before he got hurt last year. So, that\u2019s just a compliment to him and how hard he works.\u201d<\/p>\n

LINEBACKERS REUNITE<\/strong><\/p>\n

The most surreal sight was not just seeng Warner back from last season\u2019s ankle injury but also lining up again next to Dre Greenlaw, who spent last season in Denver. \u201cBeing back out there today, it did mean a lot, just to feel better than I ever have,\u201d Warner said. \u201cTo be able to feel the same movements and everything like that was important, too. So, it\u2019s just really just climbing from here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Greenlaw\u2019s aggressive nature was back in midseason form as he tried stripping the ball from young running backs. \u201cToday kind of met every expectation,\u201d Warner said. \u201cEven the days leading up to today, I\u2019ve been having to tell him like, \u2018Hey, bro, like relax.\u2019 Because he\u2019s just been amped up, ready to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

LOWE GETS HURT<\/strong><\/p>\n

Offensive tackle Vederian Lowe, signed this spring as Williams\u2019 likely backup, sustained an apparent injury to his right ankle only eight plays into team drills. Lowe, wearing a brace on his right knee, appeared to collide with a teammate in the backfield, then walked off the field with a trainer. Foerster had no update on Lowe\u2019s health.<\/p>\n

EXTRA POINTS<\/strong><\/p>\n

Christian McCaffrey, after a NFL-high 413 touches last season, ran off right guard on the first play of team drills. \u2026 Brock Purdy opened up the offense\u2019s warmups with a completion to Mike Evans, the 49ers\u2019 top free agency acquisition. \u2026 De\u2019Zhaun Stribling made a nice sliding catch against Jack Jones\u2019 tight coverage to cap practice. \u2026 Jalen Graham and Marques Sigle intercepted consecutive passes by Mac Jones. \u2026 Among those auditioning at punt returner were Jacob Cowing, Ricky Pearsall, Jordan Watkins and Junior Bergen. \u2026 Rookies Romello Height and Gracen Halton hyped up the crowd before the first of 11 open practices. Halton appeared to tweak an ankle later in practice but remained in the action. \u2026 Defensive tackle Kevin Givens re-signed, a day after Evan Anderson was waived.<\/p>\n

Read more Photos: Grape stomping, flag waving at San Jose\u2019s Italian Family Festa<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Coach Kyle Shanahan made a 45-minute cameo to watch the 49ers’ first practice of camp while he recovers from a July 14 car collision in Palo Alto.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5533,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5534","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\nKyle Shanahan’s cameo at 49ers practice draws players’ reactions - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5534\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kyle Shanahan’s cameo at 49ers practice draws players’ reactions - Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Coach Kyle Shanahan made a 45-minute cameo to watch the 49ers' first practice of camp while he recovers from a July 14 car collision in Palo Alto.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5534\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-26T21:12:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5534#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5534\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"headline\":\"Kyle Shanahan’s cameo at 49ers practice draws players’ reactions\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-26T21:12:32+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5534\"},\"wordCount\":1269,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5534#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/9d8d82ce6665bffbebbd3e55760fbac6-scaled.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Sports\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5534#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5534\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5534\",\"name\":\"Kyle Shanahan’s cameo at 49ers practice draws players’ reactions - 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