49ers backup quarterback O'Sullivan takes snaps with first-team offense

<p>SANTA CLARA — J.T. O’Sullivan, whom 49ers coach Mike Nolan said last month was part of a three-way quarterback competition, took his first snaps of training camp on Wednesday.</p><p>Nolan said on the first day of camp that it was a two-quarterback competition involving Shaun Hill and Alex Smith. That left O’Sullivan out of the picture.</p><p>But when Hill needed some rest for his sore throwing shoulder, O’Sullivan stepped in to take 10 snaps during the morning practice. He took all of Hill’s afternoon repetitions.</p><p>“He’s been throwing a lot of balls and Mike (Martz) just felt it was best to ease off on him a little bit because of that,” Nolan said of Hill. “It also gave us an opportunity to give O’Sullivan a little bit of work.”</p><p>Hill completed all six of his passing attempts earlier in practice — all short throws — before O’Sullivan took over with the first team for the final 10 snaps. Smith worked the entire first practice with the No. 2 unit before taking snaps with the projected starters in the afternoon.</p><p>When Nolan was asked why Smith did not work with the No. 1 offense in the morning when Hill was held out, he said, “In fairness to Shaun and Alex and keeping things the same, and in all fairness to J.T.”</p><h3>STALEY RETURNS</h3> <p>Left tackle Joe Staley was removed from the non-football injury list and did some individual work before practice. Staley missed the first five days of practices with an infection in his right foot. Staley made two trips to the hospital for antibiotics. It took four days to get the swelling out of his foot, he said.</p><p>Staley played every snap of every game at right tackle last season. He is moving to the left side to protect the quarterback’s blindside. But after playing left tackle his final two seasons at Central Michigan, he believes the transition this year will be much easier for him than a year ago.</p><p>“I’m already accustomed to the speed of the game,” Staley said.</p><p>“Coming in from college, your head is spinning. I think it was the second week of training camp (last year) when I started to settle down a little bit.”</p><h3>EXTRA POINTS</h3> <p><b>Injury notes:</b> Rookie defensive lineman Kentwan Balmer is listed as day-to-day with a right ankle sprain from an injury he sustained during Tuesday’s practice.</p><p>Safeties Mark Roman (hamstring) and Lewis Baker (thigh) both missed their second consecutive days of practice. Roman is in competition for the starting job against second-year player Dashon Goldson.</p><p>“Mark is a good player,” Nolan said. “He’s a veteran player that plays very smart, but Dashon is also a smart guy. He’s a young guy. Dashon Goldson is a good player, and he’s just going to get better and better. We’ll just continue to let them compete.”</p><p><b>Undecided:</b> Nolan said he has not decided which defensive player will wear the radio device in his helmet. The logical choice is linebacker Patrick Willis, who played every defensive snap of every game last season. He does not want to reveal his thoughts on the subject.</p><p>“We’ll let somebody else learn how it helps them,” he said. “I’d like to know what the 31 other teams are doing with it. It would help me.</p><p>“Obviously, the whole premise of the thing is to make sure people quit stealing (signals), as we saw last year. What occurred last year (with the New England Patriots) is not right. So this will eliminate all that and stay focused on the game and the way it should be played — with integrity and sportsmanship.”</p><p>You can reach Staff Writer Matt Maiocco at 521-5492 or matt.maiocco@</p><p>pressdemocrat.com.</p>