It’s a tradition as old as the NFL itself: A new coach puts his team through a grueling training camp in his first year with the squad.
We remember Jim Mora (Sr.) talking about it once: You can always ease up in the future, but it’s hard to make camp more difficult as time wears on.
New 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh hasn’t been too restricted by the new NFL practice rules. It sounds like the 49ers have jumped right into camp despite the lockout.
“He’s definitely going with the approach that there’s only one way to get in football shape, and that’s to do it,” defensive end Justin Smith told Jim Trotter of SI.com. “I really can’t say that this camp has been easier than in the past. We’ve been out on the field for three hours a day, banging. It’s been a physical camp.”
Trotter writes that’s Saturday’s practice was the fifth time in six days they were in full pads. They were playing full speed with tackling to the ground when many teams will “hit and release” in certain drills to avoid injuries.
The 49ers will have to be tough; their passing game has reportedly looked rough in camp.
Some things in San Francisco just don’t seem to change.