OXNARD, Calif. – With the pads coming on for the first time Tuesday, there were plenty of big moments to discuss.
Here are some of the top observations from practice:
- On the first day in pads, rookie first-round pick Tyler Guyton shined at left tackle with every unit. He is being slowly worked into the first-team unit, but when he had opportunities to line up against Micah Parsons, he provided a stone wall against the Defensive Player of the Year contender. Lined up against the more powerful Marshawn Kneeland when with the second-team unit, he was able to do the same against his rookie classmate. On a day where the pads show who is ready for the physicality, Guyton passed every test. - (Nick Harris)
- This is a big camp for Nahshon Wright, who enters his fourth camp and especially right now with Trevon Diggs still working back into practice, he's getting a lot of first-team reps on the outside. On Tuesday, Wright was all around the ball, especially in 1-on-1 drills. He had two pass deflections on consecutive reps and nearly had an interception in team drills but was ruled out of bounds. - (Nick Eatman)
- Juanyeh Thomas made another big play here in Oxnard as he picked off a Cooper Rush pass intended for Deuce Vaughn on an out route from the slot and would have probably returned it for a touchdown with nobody in front of him. It's been a solid camp so far for a player who stamped his roster spot a year ago. - (Nick Harris)
- Brock Hoffman took a solid first step forward in the center competition with strong play in the middle. Cooper Beebe hasn't been rotating in with the first-team as much as Guyton, which I think says more about where the confidence is with Hoffman here in the second week of training camp. - (Nick Harris)
- Jourdan Lewis continues to show he's back to full form. Though he didn't walk away from the first padded practice with his second interception of training camp, his coverage was as good as it's ever been — a PBU on third down across the middle of the field in full team drills proving that point. - (Patrik Walker)
- Jalen Brooks. You've heard the name many times in this camp, as you did in his first camp last summer, and you'll likely hear much more of him over the next several days and weeks. Brooks had a great grab on a throw that was intentionally low and outside on a middle deep route that only Brooks could get to, and he did, sliding into the catch for the first down and then some. - (Patrik Walker)
- Marshawn Kneeland is going to be looked upon heavily to help shoulder the load at the edge after the loss of Sam Williams to a season-ending knee injury. The rookie second-round pick says he understands this fully, but that didn't stop Mike Zimmer from trying Kneeland on the inside a time or two, for versatility's sake. - (Patrik Walker)
