Why the 49ers Thought it Was OK to Reinstall Ambry Thomas as a Starter
Why the 49ers Thought it Was ok to Reinstall Ambry Thomas as a Starter
Daniel Bullocks, the defensive backs coach for the 49ers, explains why the team felt comfortable having Ambry Thomas start again.
It’s a move that was seen as dubious at first. Prior to the Bye week, Thomas was not very successful. However, at the time, the 49ers were looking for solutions to strengthen their secondary. With the defense struggling heading into the Bye, the coaches decided it would be prudent to reintroduce Thomas as a starter.
And boy, was their faith in Thomas well placed. In his comeback start against the Jaguars following the bye week, he demonstrated how much he had matured in just a few weeks. That game would define his appearance for the rest of his life. The player who had been such a liability was no longer there. The 49ers must have had a great deal of faith in him if they took that action. I got to question Daniel Bullocks, the defensive backs coach, about that trust.
Bullocks stated, “The trust was earned in the offseason.” “We gave him a strategy, and he followed it diligently, maintaining his weight, and had an excellent OTA and minicamp. He continued it during the summer and attended training camp after that. He’d had a solid training camp, so he was fully confident.
“We started off with Oliver and Demo outside when the season arrived. After that, we decided to make the switch, and since we trusted Ambry Thomas, it went smoothly for us. That task had been his doing. I see him every single day. We didn’t just dump him there after he hadn’t been there for a few weeks. I’ve been witnessing it because he had been doing it even when he wasn’t playing and wasn’t receiving any practice reps.”
Thomas has made it possible for the 49ers’ defense to play at its peak. The spot will be occupied by Deommodore Lenoir, an improvement over Isaiah Oliver. That would not have been possible if Thomas’s performance had not been so excellent. His development is happening right in front of our eyes, and it is helping the 49ers defense succeed.
“This is, I believe, Ambry Thomas’ third year. A third-round draft selection, he was. A player’s lightbulb may go out at any time, although it usually does so sooner rather than later. Some people are playing and leading off their first season at a high level because something clicks in their heads. For Ambry, everything went well at first. He played in the NFC title game in the end, but things didn’t work out the way he had hoped in his second season.
But in the end, Thomas went back to his reliable 2023 version. I believe that’s what has clicked for Thomas as well; the old Thomas would have let those negative representations to affect him. Now that he doesn’t allow a poor game turn into a snowball effect, Thomas has more mental toughness. It is an essential quality in a cornerback, which is why the 49ers have complete faith in him.
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