Charlotte 49ers practice report: Tuesday

-- So here’s what happens when it rains at Charlotte 49ers football practice: the team works out on the artificial turf in Richardson Stadium instead of on the two natural grass practice fields.

That’s what happened Tuesday morning when the 49ers practiced for the fifth time this preseason. It rained on-an-off during the two-hour session, as the 49ers also went to full pads for the first time.

“When all the pads go on, it makes things more intense,” said cornerback Tank Norman. “You feel like you’ve really got to out and make plays.”

Coach Brad Lambert said Wednesday’s practice will be the team’s first featuring real contact. Tuesday ended a five-day period that featured no pads the first two days, shoulder pads in Days 3 and 4 and full pads Tuesday.

 “They want to hit each other,” said Lambert. “At the end of the five-day period, we now can ramp it up a little more physically. The kids really want to bang into each other. It’s going to be more physical now, and we’ll start throwing live plays in there.”

 

The 49ers will have their first two-a-day practices on Friday. That won't happen much in the preseason, however.

 

-- Lambert said the injury report is still minimal, with cornerback Greg Cunningham working his way back from a sore back. The 49ers’ only injury of note is a knee injury suffered by wide receiver Jamel Ross before before preseason practice began. Ross is out for the season.

-- The 49ers have seven “H-backs" on the roster, a position that is a hybrid of a tight end and slot receiver in Charlotte’s spread offense (the H-back lines up a few yards behind the line of scrimmage). They don’t have any players listed as a tight end, although there is a tight ends coach (Johnson Richardson) but no H-back coach. That’s just roster/position semantics, though.

Look for senior C.J. Crawford (a transfer from Marshall), redshirt freshman Justin Bolus and junior-college transfer Dmarjai Devine to see most of the snaps at H back. Bolus is back on the field after a scary time late last year during which he suffered a twisted bowel, a condition that nearly cost him his life.