SANTA CLARA — As a 16-year veteran, 49ers left tackle Trent Williams isn’t one to recall many specific instances of training camp practice.
Yet the arrival of Eric Kendricks in a 49ers uniform has jogged his memory. It was Aug. 17 and 18 of 2022 and the 49ers spent two days of practices with the Minnesota Vikings at their team headquarters in Eagan, Minnesota before their preseason game that weekend.
“I just remember him wrecking our practice,” Williams said Monday. “He was a thorn in our backside as o-linemen because he diagnosed so quickly. He took away our ability to help because he was getting to the spot he needed to be so quick.”
The 49ers (9-4) returned from their bye weekend with a brief “bonus” practice and will take Tuesday off before beginning preparations to host the Tennessee Titans (2-11) Sunday at Levi’s Stadium (1:05 p.m., Fox). The four practices will determine whether Kendricks makes his 49ers debut.
If Kendricks, 33, were to start in any of the last four games of the regular season, he would be the fourth middle (or Mike) linebacker this season after Fred Warner, Tatum Bethune and Curtis Robinson.
Warner (broken ankle) is out for the season barring an unlikely in-season comeback which could only occur in a deep playoff run. Bethune started five games before going out with a hamstring strain, with Robinson starting the last two games.
Kendricks was signed to the practice squad Nov. 26 and was inactive in the 49ers’ 26-8 road win over Cleveland as he digested a new defensive system.
Considering Kendricks’ pedigree, it’s not out of the question he could wind up starting and being placed on the 53-man roster in the next month based on his experience and body of work. Last season, Kendricks led the Dallas Cowboys with 138 tackles — 50 more than anyone else on the team — even though he missed two games.
After offseason shoulder surgery, Kendricks, who has played 147 games with 142 starts, was choosy about where he wanted to play in the twilight of his career.
“Everything kind of crossed my mind,” Kendricks said. “I just wanted to do what felt right, and a lot of things didn’t feel right so I just waited. I’ve always respected the organization, the coaching staff and the way they play defense. when I got an opportunity to be part of the team, I took it.”
In his 11th season, Kendricks played eight seasons for the Vikings as a starter before moving on for one season with the Chargers and one with Dallas. He has a nine-season run of 100 or more tackles and had 92 as a rookie.
The 49ers thought they had Kendricks locked up last season as a replacement for Dre Greenlaw, who was rehabbing an Achilles’ tear. Kendricks, however, signed with Dallas instead and the 49ers made the ill-fated decision to bring aboard De’Vondre Campbell, who ended up walking out on the team when Greenlaw played late in the year.
The Cowboys’ defensive coordinator was Mike Zimmer, Kendricks’ coach with the Vikings. The 49ers reached out again even before Warner and Bethune went down.
“We’ve been talking with him throughout the year,” coach Kyle Shanahan said of Kendricks. “I know he had other options. But, the timing was right for him and we’ve been wanting him on board so we were pumped that he wanted to come.”
As for last season’s snub, it’s all been forgotten.
“It was brought up,” Shanahan said with a laugh. “We’re all good. We understand it now and you’re frustrated at the time, but I understand why he did it.”
Kendricks’ respect for the 49ers grew as he watched from afar this season.
“This is the most football I’ve ever watched, to be honest with you,” Kendricks said. “I’ve watched everybody kind of step up and the way they’ve responded. It was inspiring to watch. Through all the adversity they’ve faced, they seem to just like to fight.”
He also heard good things from Jake Brendel, a college teammate at UCLA with both serving as co-captains.
“We’ve kept in touch since forever,” Brendel said. There’s a lot of things that players like him would like to end their career on and he definitely wants to play more football. He’s been a battler his whole career and he’s an intrinsic leader.”
After Warner and Bethune went down and depth was paper-thin behind Robinson, Brendel lobbed a message asking if he was keeping in shape because they might need a “Mike” linebacker. Kendrick insists he was, and that there are similarities between the schemes Zimmer ran in Minnesota and Dallas and what Robert Saleh is doing with the 49ers.
“I’ve been playing at a high level for a while now,” Kendricks said. “It’s a little more eyes on the quarterback and some of the blitzes are very similar. It’s a lot of memorization with terminology but there’s some carry-over. Being blessed to be with four teams in four years, it’s allowed me to learn things really fast.”
Kendrick wouldn’t get into specifics of what he believes the 49ers expect of him.
“I’m just here to work, humble myself and be part of a good team,” Kendricks said.
Shanahan plans on getting a good look this week.
“Hopefully we can get all that conditioning and football stamina in and he can really show us where he is at at linebacker,” Shanahan said.