Nick's Notes: Practice 15

Coach Kyle Shanahan is basically all the way back to full duties from his car accident but he apparently took another step Saturday when he was seen calling in plays on the walkie talkie. It's the first time I've noticed it in this camp (doesn't mean it hasn't happened before) and he didn't do it the whole time as Klay Kubiak also did some but it's also a sign that the regular season is fast approaching. - Wide receiver Mike Evans was back at practice on Saturday after leaving last Tuesday's session early with quad tightness. The Niners weren't concerned about it at the time and suggested Evans would be back soon so his presence wasn't a total surprise. Evans went on to have a nice practice, connecting with QB Brock Purdy a few times for big gains and catching a short touchdown pass from Purdy in the red zone. - RB Christian McCaffrey, meanwhile, did not return to practice from his own bout with tightness. But McCaffrey was seen in the weight room going through a workout. - Rookie WR De'Zhaun Stribling and CB Deommodore Lenoir did not practice because of shoulder issues. They're considered day-to-day, according to the team. - Among the others not practicing after suffering injuries in the preseason game: LB Nick Martin (hamstring), CB Renardo Green (hamstring) and OL Austen Pleasants (knee). - Other 49ers I did not see participating today who haven't had any injuries disclosed: LB Jalen Graham, WR Wesley Grimes (was seen with a wrap on his hand), RB Zamir White and DL Xavier Thomas. - The Niners welcomed back three potential important contributors from injury on Saturday: RB Jordan James (rib), G Dominick Puni (concussion) and DT C.J. West (concussion). WR Malik Turner was also back in the mix, though he did some work on the side after individual. - Full list of players I did not see participating today: Stribling, Lenoir, Martin, Green, Pleasants, Graham, Grimes, Z. White, Thomas, DT Gracen Halton (ankle), McCaffrey, LB Luke Gifford (hamstring), DE Nick Bosa (soreness/tendinitis), FB Kyle Juszczyk (broken finger), OL Brett Toth (concussion), QB Kurtis Rourke (undisclosed/ribs), WR Christian Kirk (calf), S Malik Mustapha (hamstring), OT Vederian Lowe (ankle), CB Nate Hobbs (groin), G Robert Jones (calf) Players on PUP: TE George Kittle (achilles), RB Isaac Guerendo (pec), DL Mykel Williams (ACL) Lots of work on the side for many of those players, including Gifford, Lowe, Kirk, Mustapha, Toth. Rourke was again at practice but not participating. - No one-on-ones today in a relatively short practice. May only get one more round of them tomorrow or Tuesday before the end of preseason. - James and rookie RB Kaelon Black have fresh legs and it shows after their returns from injury. Black, in particular, showed off some sure hands in the pass game, one of the questions surrounding him coming out of the draft. They both had would-be touchdowns in the red zone period. I've been hammering the importance of these two getting reps all camp and it's coming at a good time as the Niners can use the next couple of weeks to figure out the pecking order. - A good back and forth for the most part today as the offense had its moments but so did the defense. Had Purdy at 9-of-15 with a couple of touchdowns, including a deep ball to a wide open TE Jake Tonges. Tonges made a pair of catches for big gains from Purdy on consecutive plays. The defense tightened up against Purdy in the final move the ball sequence, getting some pressure and forcing three straight incompletions to end the top offense's day. Also: a missed opportunity early in team when S Ji'Ayir Brown had an interception slip through his fingers and land in the hands of WR Jordan Watkins. - A busy day for Deebo Samuel who caught a TD pass from Adrian Martinez, got multiple touches in the run game and made a sweet over the shoulder catch on a deep ball from QB Mac Jones. - Some defensive highlights: West broke through for a would-be sack against Jones... LB Larry Worth had a nice run stuff on a run by Samuel... CB Eli Apple intercepted a Jones pass for Evans.