The Edge Room Lost Three Bodies While The New Receiver Took Ten Snaps

San Francisco practised Saturday morning in Santa Clara, the fifth session of camp and the second in pads. The observations below come from Nick Wagoner of ESPN, Jennifer Lee Chan of NBC Sports Bay Area and Tim Kawakami of the SF Standard, all filed the same day, plus the club's own release and roster page. Nobody from this site was there.

The roster move came first, at 9:44 a.m. The 49ers signed Deebo Samuel to a one-year deal and placed Ricky Pearsall on injured reserve in the same release, and the club's roster page lists Pearsall under Reserve/Injured. That is the corresponding move this beat has been waiting on since Thursday night, and it is the first player all camp to leave the 53-man projection in either direction. The release names no injury and gives no timeline. John Lynch said afterward that the decision had been made and that surgery was the course of action everyone felt was appropriate. The club has put no timeline on it, and this notebook does not carry one either.

Samuel practised on a script, and the number is small on purpose. Wagoner has him in one-on-ones and limited to about ten snaps in team drills, with three catches, one over the middle from Brock Purdy for a big gain. Chan has roughly ten planned plays, catches from both Purdy and Mac Jones including a screen and a route to the flat, work in the run game, and a job returning kicks. Both accounts describe the same ramp.

The fourth receiver went down before the fifth practice was over. De'Zhaun Stribling, the rookie taken 33rd overall, missed the session with hamstring tightness. He had taken the first-team slot reps for three straight practices, and Kawakami on Saturday morning called him the most impressive receiver in this camp after Mike Evans. Christian Kirk missed his fourth straight with the calf he strained in camp's opening session, the last practice he was on the field for at all. For the first time, neither man in the WR3 competition was on the field.

The edge room lost three bodies. Keion White started and did not finish, with an adductor issue from one-on-ones. Romello Height sat out with an elbow. Mikail Kamara, an undrafted rookie, left on a cart; the club announced a knee, and has offered nothing past the body part, no timeline and no prognosis. Those are the two men taking first-team defensive end reps opposite each other, plus the depth behind them, on a line already missing Mykel Williams and running Nick Bosa on limited work.

One item needed a second source and has one. Wagoner writes that "DL Keion White (adductor), DL Mikail Kamara (knee) and RB Kaelon Black (undisclosed) did not finish the practice after starting it." Chan's absence list is longer than Wagoner's and does not mention Black at all; 49ers Webzone has him out of the latter portion of team drills and says in as many words that whether he suffered a setback is unclear. So two accounts have him leaving the field early and neither has a reason. That matters more than a normal depth note, because Black is competing for the backup running back job against Jordan James, who has a fractured rib.

The offense was bad and both accounts say so. Miscommunication, overthrows from Purdy and from Jones, and an exchange between Jones and centre Brett Toth that hit the ground. Wagoner reads fatigue into it. Toth is in the backup centre competition, which makes his the one name in that sentence with a roster consequence attached.

The good plays, for the record. Luke Farrell caught a touchdown from Purdy in the move-the-ball period. Christian McCaffrey sold a fake, cut back against the grain and went a long way untouched. Eddy Piñeiro made all six of his field goal attempts, the longest from 55 with room to spare.

Kyle Shanahan addressed the team for the first time since the July car accident, then spent the practice on the field giving the offense feedback in real time. He had watched the previous four from behind the defensive backfield. Lynch, on Shanahan: "He's doing better. He got a nice welcome and it was good to have him up there."

Also out: Jordan James (ribs), Malik Mustapha (hamstring), C.J. West, Gracen Halton (knee) and Cameron Sample (knee). Kawakami has Trent Williams dominating one-on-one pass rush and Nick Martin working at strongside linebacker.

Two names crossed the 53-man projection today, which is two more than had crossed it in the first four practices combined. The reasoning for both is on the 53-man tracker.

Sources. Nick Wagoner, ESPN, August 1, for the practice log, the players who did not finish, the Samuel snap count and the Lynch quote. Jennifer Lee Chan, NBC Sports Bay Area, August 1, for the absence list, the Samuel usage, the Jones exchange, the Piñeiro kicks, the McCaffrey run and the Farrell touchdown. Tim Kawakami, SF Standard, August 1, for the Stribling assessment, Trent Williams and Nick Martin. David Bonilla, 49ers Webzone, August 1, for the club's announcement of Kamara's knee and for Kaelon Black leaving the latter portion of team drills. Kirk's absence count is this site's own, against its published camp reports of July 26, 27, 29 and 31: he strained the calf during the opening session and has not practised since. The 49ers' official release and transaction log, August 1, 9:44 a.m., and the club roster page, both read at the primary the same afternoon.