49ers' Reuben Foster calls offseason legal troubles 'learning experience'

SANTA CLARA - He did and he didn't want to talk about it.

Reuben Foster hadn't talked publicly about it all year. Saturday after training camp, he walked into the 49ers press room, smiled at reporters and finally answered questions.

“Oh yeah, it was a big learning experience,” Foster said, talking around the issue.

“It” was his offseason, which included two arrests, three felony charges, one girlfriend accusing him of hitting her eight to 10 times in the head, the same girlfriend claiming she made the whole story up, one judge dismissing all three felony charges and the NFL deciding to suspend Foster two games anyway. Not your typical offseason.

“I learn from every mistake, everything that's said, all my flaws, and just grew from it,” Foster said.

It was unclear which mistake Foster was referring to. The mistake that caused the NFL's suspension occurred on Jan. 12, when police arrested Foster in Alabama for possession of marijuana. The District Attorney's office later dropped the charges, but the NFL suspended Foster two games without pay for violating the league's policy on substances of abuse and personal conduct.

Last year, before the 49ers drafted Foster, he tested positive for marijuana at the NFL's Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. During the draft, he had a tobacco and marijuana vaporizer company sponsor his draft party.

After the draft, when a reporter asked why that company sponsored his party, Foster said, “This is a new leaf, and I'm not answering that.”

On Saturday, when asked if he thought he did anything wrong this offseason, he said, “I respect your question, but I don't feel like talking about it. I really don't.”

THE PLAY OF THE DAY

It was a simple run to the left.

Running back Joe Williams had the ball five yards behind the line of scrimmage. He was jogging toward the sideline, looking for a seam.

He found one. All of a sudden, he was in the defensive backfield.

And then he was running away from the defensive backs, pulling away with every step. The fastest player on the field. Williams sprinted 65 yards untouched into the end zone.

“There was zero hesitation and he hit it without blinking,” 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said. “I think that's why it was a pretty good result.”

Pretty good?

Williams may be the most physically gifted 49ers running back. He is their biggest back at 205 pounds, and maybe their fastest back, too. He ran a 4.41 40-yard dash at the scouting combine, and a 10.3-second 100-meter dash in high school.

“Joe has the size and speed and explosiveness that if he has a good hole and he hits it and doesn't hesitate, he can make some big plays,” Shanahan said.

The 49ers drafted Williams in the fourth round last year. He spent his entire rookie season on the Injured Reserve list after performing poorly during training camp, when he routinely missed the hole or hit it too late, and then didn't run hard.

“As a running back, you cannot think,” Shanahan said. “You have to hit it and not hesitate. He's been doing that in OTAs and he did it in these three practices. He didn't flinch. You hope he can feel that and gain some confidence and continue to build off of it.”

THE INTRODUCTION

The story of the day was 49ers rookie offensive tackle Mike McGlinchey.

The 49ers drafted him with the ninth pick this year. They expect him to start at right tackle immediately.

Saturday was his first practice wearing pads in the NFL. In the morning, the 49ers alerted the media that McGlinchey would answer questions after practice.

They seemed to think he would play well.

They set him up for success. They didn't make him block any starting defensive linemen during the one-on-one pass-rush drills. They made him block Cassius Marsh, a backup. Marsh beat him for a sack with a quick move to the inside.

A few plays after that, McGlinchey was up again. This time, he faced Jeremiah Attaochu, another backup. Attaochu beat him for a sack with a quick move to the inside.

After practice, McGlinchey had to answer for those sacks. What could have been an introduction became an interrogation, and he got defensive.

“One on ones aren't really that … ” McGlinchey said, and stopped just short of saying, “Important.”

He rephrased his thought.

“I'm not really counting wins and losses in one on ones. I'm working on technique and trying to do new things and working on the timing. It was my first live pass-rush rep in eight-plus months, so the timing was a little off. We have good pass rushers on our team. I'm probably going to lose multiple one-on-one reps throughout the year.”

As McGlinchey spoke, his face turned the color of a tomato.