49ers guard Dominick Puni isn’t resting on his rookie laurels

SANTA CLARA — Dominick Puni isn’t spending any time reveling in his rookie success.

“It’s a blur, honestly,” Puni said. “My whole rookie season is a blur.”

In last year’s Week 1 exhibition at Tennessee, Puni started and played 25 snaps as a third-round draft pick at right guard, No. 86 overall, in part because projected starter Spencer Burford was injured.

When the 49ers lost to the Denver Broncos 30-9 Saturday night, Puni was on the sideline with the established starters, too valuable to risk with two preseason games remaining and the regular season looming on Sept. 7 in Seattle.

You know, Brock Purdy, Christian McCaffrey, George Kittle, Trent Williams, Colton McKivitz, Nick Bosa, Fred Warner.

And Dominick Puni.

To hear Puni tell it, a year in which he was a first-team selection to the Pro Football Writers Association all-rookie team as a guard was a struggle from the outset.

“This camp’s been a lot better,” Puni said. “Just kind of knowing the offense after a full season of going through it, you question yourself less, you’re more confident in your ability, you’re able to work on different things. I know for me, and (line coach Chris) Foerster, we had some things we had to work on in the offseason and that’s what I’m attacking this camp so far.”

Puni (6-foot-5, 314 pounds) got a look with the first team during OTAs and never relinquished it. He opened the season as a starter and never relinquished that either. In fact, other than missing one play when Puni took a blow to the stomach while blocking New England linebacker Raekwon McMillian on a short run by Jordan Mason, he played every snap of a 17-game season.

Puni’s 1,078 snaps led the 49ers, just ahead of center Jake Brendel (1,072) and right tackle Colton McKivitz (1,062).

Yet making it to the finish line was a struggle after never playing in 13 games in college at Kansas as a junior and nine as a senior.

“Seventeen games, it was really different for me,” Puni said. “I was just trying to keep my head above water, and survive the season instead of attacking every week and keeping my body right. That was the big thing this offseason, making sure my body is right to play 17 weeks of football and hopefully the playoffs.”

With big things expected from the latest rookie class, Puni will help out whenever he can but isn’t sure how much his expertise will help as much as just going out and doing it.

“You’ve got to go through it. The vets here did as much as they could, telling me what to expect,” Puni said. “But a lot of people just like to learn the hard way, and that’s what I did. Now I know what to expect. The rookie wall is a real thing, as much as people don’t want to believe it.”

The Raiders are hopeful of getting cornerback Renardo Green (0) back this week with a joint practice and exhibition game scheduled against the Raiders in Las Vegas. Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group

Puni’s ascension was what coaches love to see: a young player seizing a position and making it his own.

“I mean, he jumped out of the gate so fast last year because we had an injury to our starter and the backup within the next two practices,” coach Kyle Shanahan said. “He got thrown in there right away, had a hell of a year. He’s doing a good job, but we’re in the middle of camp. All those guys are pretty tired out there. I always say you’re getting better or worse. I hope he takes another step forward this year.”

Puni appreciates the accolades, but is convinced he can take a big leap in Year 2 even if Year 1 was very good.

“I think I can be much better,” Puni said. “You have a good year and people see what they see. You’re hard on yourself, and coach Foerster is a pretty good coach at being hard on us. You see a lot of what you can clean up, and that’s what you see in the offseason is so much better that can come out of my play. There can be a big jump.”

HEADING TO VEGAS

Around this time last year, the 49ers canceled a two-day practice session with New Orleans at their practice facility because they didn’t have enough healthy bodies.

They’re down in numbers again, but Shanahan expects a Thursday session in Las Vegas against the Raiders to go on as planned. The 49ers play the Raiders Saturday at Allegiant Stadium.

“It’s definitely getting hard,” Shanahan said after the Denver loss. “We had 19 guys that didn’t dress today because of injuries and that’s not counting PUP (physically unable to perform list) guys. There were probably seven healthy guys that I sat.”

The 49ers will practice Monday and Tuesday before leaving for Las Vegas Wednesday.

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“It’s real important that we get two good practices in Monday and Tuesday,” Shanahan said. “Hopefully we’re in a better spot Thursday when we go against the Raiders.”

Two names to watch are cornerback Renardo Green and wide receiver/return specialist Jacob Cowing. Cowing strained a hamstring during the first training camp practice and Green was lost shortly afterward. If Green and Cowing can’t go Monday or Tuesday, it’s unlikely they’ll get any time against the Raiders either in the joint practice or the game.

“We were planning on getting them back this week,” Shanahan said. “Hopefully it’s sooner than later because I don’t want their first practice to be against another team, so we’ll see how it goes.