Anthony Davis looks to regain his old job from Brown

Share

SANTA CLARA – Right tackle Anthony Davis, who has started all 71 games of his NFL regular season career, was not in the starting lineup Sunday night for the 49ers’ first exhibition game.

Davis will have to earn his old job back from second-year player Trent Brown, who started and played the first 28 snaps of the 49ers’ 24-13 loss to the Texans on Sunday evening at Levi’s Stadium.

Brown had a pancake block on Texans defensive lineman Christian Covington to provide a hole for Mike Davis to get to the second level en route to a 44-yard run. Brown did not allow any quarterback pressures.

Davis entered the game in the second quarter and played 22 snaps. He appeared to fare well as a run-blocker but surrendered a sack to Texans outside linebacker Eric Lee late in the first half.

The Texans came with a seven-man rush to pressure Thad Lewis on a third-and-9 situation. Davis seemed to be a bit slow in picking up outside pass-rusher Lee, perhaps anticipating running back Mike Davis to pick up Lee on the outside.

Coach Chip Kelly suggested the issue on the play was a matter of Anthony Davis and others in blitz pick-up not being on the same page or not being quick enough to recognize their assignments.

“(There were) some protection things,” Kelly said. “There was a linebacker blitz inside and we had to kind of make sure, there were some assignment questions going on.

San Francisco 49ers

Find the latest San Francisco 49ers news, highlights, analysis and more with NBC Sports Bay Area and California.

How 49ers can use 2025 NFL Draft to strengthen offensive line

Complete list of 329 players headed to 2025 NFL Scouting Combine

.embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; }

“Part of that is this whole process. You finally get to play in a game, and then who’s communicating, how did we call it and who’s exactly responsible for that call and what came out of it? Sometimes it looks on film (as if) it’s this guy, but it may not be that guy. It could have been called a different way and then he came out late and didn’t realize he had the guy.”

Davis was reinstated off the NFL's reserve/retired list in time for the opening of training camp after sitting out last season. He reported to camp at a svelte 332 pounds after last playing for the 49ers in 2014 in the 365- to 370-range, he said.

Contact Us