49ers hitting stride in football practice

The 49ers completed their fourth day of football practice in pads and helmets Wednesday.

-- Charlotte's practices are set up in 18 five-minute segments, with director of football operations Trevor Lambert blowing an air horn signalling the end of each one. The defense practiced on one field for much of the afternoon, before joining the offense on the full-length field for the final 30 minutes or so.

"The thing that's nice now is that at the back end of practice, they're finally getting in shape," said coach Brad Lambert. "The first one or two days, we couldn't get to the 18th segment without everybody being worn out. We're not practicing long, but we're practicing at a pretty good pace."

-- The 49ers ended the practice with 20 plays from scrimmage. For what it's worth, here's what appeared to be the first teams on offense and defense (and there's plenty of time -- about 11 months-- for this to change, which it will).

Offense

QB: Matt Johnson

RB: Alan Barnwell

RB/slot: Will Thomas

Slot: Jaquil Capel

WR: Jamel Rose

TE: Jonathan Gidney

LT: Jamal Clovington

LG: Thomas La Bianca

C: Mason Sledge

RG: Jarred Barr

RT: Daniel Blitch

Defense

DL: Larry Ogunjobi

DL: Michael Potthast

DL: Hayden Beck

DL: Devin Clegg

LB: Shomari Jones

LB: Brandon Rodriguez

LB: Zeb Little

CB: Jordan Adams

S: Alex Petzke

S: Danny Leonardi

CB: Sam Dexter

-- The coaching staff is nothing if not enthusiastic. Assistant secondary coach John Russell got his troops going by bringing them together before a drill:

"Somebody light me up!" Russell shouted.

The players made a hissing sound, like a fuse burning down.

Then, they all yelled "Boom!"

-- Only about 5 yards separates the practice field from a fence, which held up well when Terrence Winchester tackled Alan Barnwell into it one play.

--  The practice was very physical. One drill had defensive backs playing off blocks and going after receivers who were running sideline routes. Then there was the always popular one-on-one blocking drills that end up with players grappling each other to the ground.

-- Brad Lambert singled out Barnwell, a 5-9, 165-pound running back from Burlington, and Ogunjobi, a 6-3, 253 pound nose guard from Greensboro, as players who have impressed early.

"Alan is getting a lot of work," said Lambert. "I've been impressed with his speed. What jumps out at you is how he hits that hole. He's also a really physical runner. He makes our defensive players better because they've really got to show up and tackle.

"Larry is  playing right in the middle of the defense and has a real presence. He can stop things up for us. I've been impressed with his quickness."