The San Francisco 49ers wrapped up Day 11 of training camp on Tuesday and will welcome the Denver Broncos to the SAP Performance Facility later this week for a joint practice ahead of Saturday’s preseason game.
Offensive tackle Colton McKivitz is ready to go up against someone not wearing red and gold.
“We talked about in the meeting today that you’re either getting better or you’re getting worse, or you’re kind of going through the motions going against the same guys every day,” McKivitz said. “…It’s going to be a new defensive look for us, three down, and we’ve got a good set of edge guys. And it’ll just be fun to go against a different defense, different team.”
McKivitz, who is coming off a 2024 season in which he earned his highest offensive grade and allowed over 10 less pressures than in 2023, spent much of the offseason getting to know the city of San Francisco, while mixing up his training routine, running uphill on streets such as Vallejo and Kearny.
“It was cool to see some locals running with me…that was different,” McKivitz said.. “You get to embrace the city and that’s something I kind of took on this year. It obviously helped, I did a lot of body weight stuff, body weight movements, put on eight pounds of muscle, leaned down, lost a percentage of body fat. So, I did what I needed to do this offseason to prepare for this year…I think I’m seeing some of that work come to fruition right now.”
McKivitz can feel the training in his conditioning on the practice field.
“[I’m] definitely not as winded,” McKivitz said. “…I’ve seen my body change, I’ve seen some growth, obviously physically and mentally. That was a big part of it. I mean, you’re on those streets and you look up it and you want to quit right away, or you don’t even want to start it. And then you got to run it again, run it backwards, and do broad jumps up and down it.
“So, a lot of it was mental and just seeing how far you’re going to push yourself, because running Vallejo and Kearny, nothing’s going to be as hard physically on the football field as that, running up those hills on concrete and just doing that…I’m in the best shape I’ve ever been…[T]he streets worked.”
In terms of technique, the 2020 fifth-round draft pick had specifics he worked on the past several months.
“…[T]o be one of the great players in the league, to follow Trent [Williams], to see what he does and trying to mimic that, it’s all in his hands. Obviously he is a genetically gifted freak, he’s the silverback, but the little things he does in pass pro with his hands, his feet and his body position…I did some boxing over the offseason, kind of try and do what he does.”