{"id":659250,"date":"2026-05-09T05:55:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-09T05:55:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/659250\/"},"modified":"2026-05-09T05:55:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-09T05:55:18","slug":"newcomers-take-the-field-for-first-nfl-practice-at-rookie-minicamp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/659250\/","title":{"rendered":"Newcomers Take the Field for First NFL Practice at Rookie Minicamp"},"content":{"rendered":"

Prior to practice, the 49ers announced<\/a> they had signed six of the team’s eight 2026 draft picks to four-year deals, including WR De’Zhaun Stribling<\/a>, RB Kaelon Black<\/a>, OL Carver Willis<\/a>, CB Ephesians Prysock<\/a>, LB Jaden Dugger<\/a>, and OL Enrique Cruz Jr.<\/a> The team also signed seven undrafted rookie free agents: TE Khalil Dinkins, DL Bryson Eason, WR Wesley Grimes, DL Mikail Kamara, WR Will Pauling, S Jalen Stroman, and DL James Thompson Jr.<\/p>\n

Friday marked the first opportunity to experience life as an NFL player, from stepping into the locker room to practicing in a 49ers jersey for the first time.<\/p>\n

“It was fun,” Black said following practice. “I was just glad to be back out there on the field. I’m just real blessed to be a pro now and I’m looking forward to taking it a step further.”<\/p>\n

Black said the reality of becoming a member of the 49ers fully hit him when he walked into the locker room and saw his setup next to All-Pro linebacker Fred Warner<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“They put my locker right next to Fred Warner, so I was just like, man, it’s real,” Black said. “So I’m really here. I’m just ready to ball.”<\/p>\n

The rookie running back also expressed confidence in his fit within San Francisco’s offense and is eager to learn from the veterans in the running back room.<\/p>\n

“I feel like I’m a great fit,” Black said. “I’m just looking forward to growing with guys like Christian McCaffrey<\/a>, Jordan James<\/a>, and Isaac Guerendo<\/a>.”<\/p>\n

Black added that several 49ers veterans have already welcomed him to the team, including McCaffrey, Warner, Brock Purdy<\/a>, and George Kittle<\/a>. He also reunited with former Indiana teammate Kurtis Rourke<\/a> at practice.<\/p>\n

“That was just like old times,” Black said of catching passes from Rourke during practice.<\/p>\n

“Just learn, take it all in, and then go back and watch the film and get better,” Black said. “That’s the only way that you will get better.”<\/p>\n

As the 49ers rookie minicamp wraps up, the organization’s newest players will continue adjusting to the NFL level both on and off the field.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Prior to practice, the 49ers announced they had signed six of the team’s eight 2026 draft picks to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":659251,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[559],"tags":[64,63,246907,246906,5224,198287,308979,198286,593,318557,85],"class_list":["post-659250","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-briana-jeannel","tag-briana-mcdonald","tag-english","tag-english-articles","tag-kaelon-black","tag-latest-app","tag-nfl","tag-player-siders","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/659250","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=659250"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/659250\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/659251"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=659250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=659250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=659250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}