The 49ers players are locked out of the team's practice facility, but a group living in the South Bay is keeping up the workout regimens nonetheless. According to offensive tackle Joe Staley, the group is composed of about a dozen players, most of them offensive and defensive linemen. They've been meeting regularly since the lockout began earlier this month.
"We're professional athletes, Staley said. "We get paid to work out and stay in shape." Staley declined to list the players involved, but he said he and defensive end Justin Smith have been the primary organizers.
The group is likely the same one that had been showing up regularly at the team's facility beginning in February. According to a team spokesman, that group included Staley, Smith, guard Adam Snyder, guard Chilo Rachal, defensive end Ray McDonald, defensive end Isaac Sopoaga (after he returned from a trip to Samoa), outside linebackers Parys Haralson and Thaddeus Gibson and quarterback Alex Smith.
Kicker Joe Nedney also was a regular at the team's facility. Nedney said Monday he has been taking a bag of balls to a local field and kicking there. Who's his holder? "PVC pipe," he said. Judging from various Twitter accounts, other 49ers are keeping in shape in their home towns.
Linebacker Takeo Spikes, for instance, wrote earlier this month that he had been working out alongside Patrick Willis in the Atlanta area. A source close to Michael Crabtree said the receiver has remained in the Dallas area and has a workout routine that includes running hills.
The 49ers offseason program had been set to begin March 14.
-- Matt Barrows
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