There haven’t been a ton of splash plays through the first nine days of training camp for 49ers rookie safety Ji’Ayir Brown. His skill set may be better geared toward game scenarios though where his tackling ability can be on full display.
Brown won’t have to wait long to hit a player who isn’t a teammate though. San Francisco has a pair of joint practices with the Raiders on August 10 and 11 before they face each other on Aug. 13 in their preseason opener. That’s why the rookie is looking forward to those practices and a game where he feels the full breadth of his skill set will shine.
“Absolutely. I haven’t tackled nobody since December of last year,” Brown said after Saturday’s practice. “So, definitely looking forward to getting back to it and show off my tackling ability to the team and let them see what I’m all about.”
His nose for the football is apparent in his college tape, and his aggressive, downhill style is something he believes will fit in quickly with San Francisco’s defense.
“That’s just my game,” he said. “I think that’s everybody’s game on the team. You know, this is an aggressive defense. I think the most aggressive defense in the league, so, I have to live up to that standard with those guys. And my football style is just like theirs so it’s definitely gonna be a game of physicality.”
That physicality doesn’t get to stand out in practice where the health of teammates is paramount and the goal is to avoid players going to the ground. Pads will pop, but the tackling isn’t full speed particularly in the secondary where Brown figures to do most of his roaming.
Brown told reporters he believes his long-term future with the team will require him to follow the leaders in the middle of their defense who set the aggressive tone.
“Just mentality. These guys, they hunt,” Brown said. “Guys like Fred (Warner) leading the pack, (Dre) Greenlaw — these guys hunt. They set the example. And if you ain’t out there hunting you can’t be with them. So I just join in on that hunt, I hunt with those guys.”
How the 49ers will deploy Brown in his rookie campaign remains to be seen. He could conceivably start at free safety alongside Talanoa Hufanga, though a more realistic projection is that he’ll play as a third safety or de facto third linebacker in some personnel groupings. Either way his playing time will ride heavily on how the aggressiveness and tackling ability he hangs his helmet on translates in games.
