49ers safety Jason Pinnock finds familiarity on the opposite coast

SANTA CLARA Jason Pinnock played high school football in Connecticut college football at Pittsburgh and spent his four NFL seasons with the New York Jets and New York Giants Being a West Coaster was never part of the plan No no no no no Pinnock explained Monday following the first padded practice for the ers Not used to the time zone but it s amazing The weather s good Early indications are Pinnock will step in as a starting safety when the ers open the regular season on Sept in Seattle With Malik Mustapha sidelined while rehabbing an ACL tear Pinnock and third-year sportsman Ji Ayir Brown are running with the first company Coach Kyle Shanahan liked what he saw of Pinnock in the offseason activity and he s flashed more than once since training camp began He broke up a Brock Purdy pass over the middle Monday with linebacker Dee Winters corralling the interception Fans of the ers maybe know as much about Pinnock as he does about the West Coast But he started games in the last two seasons for the New York Giants and had tackles each of the last two seasons and played percent of the snaps He s confident without being a big talker but isn t shy about assessing his skillset Pinnock s numbers career blitzes with the sacks one with the Jets six with the Giants suggest more of a box safety But the ers can be interchangeable on the back end and Pinnock is eager to prove he can hold up in coverage Jason Pinnock tackles ers tight end George Kittle as a member of the New York Giants in Nhat V Meyer Bay Area News Group He s given up a career passer rating to receivers in his area according to ProFootballReference com and eight touchdowns with two interceptions although one of them was returned yards for a touchdown I feel like I m all in one Pinnock explained I came in as a corner so I can play press man gritty press man I come off the edge I had sacks in New York so I exhibited that I m good playing down in the run encounter and I m a ball hawk That s perhaps the main thing I have to say to show the league is that part But everything else is just as fundamental to me A fifth-round draft pick by the Jets in Pinnock made the group in Robert Saleh s first season as head coach And even though Pinnock was a surprise cut by Jets at the final in his second year he was eager to play for Saleh again No hard feelings If there was I wouldn t think I d be here Pinnock noted We had that discussion a long time ago Saleh commented At those points in these players career you have a choice to either fold or keep getting better He went to the Giants and credit to former Giants coordinator Wink Martindale who uncovered a role for him and really gave J P confidence that he can play in this league The ers moved expeditiously to sign Pinnock to a one-year contract worth a guaranteed million shortly after Talanoa Hufanga signed a free agent contract with Denver Soon after it became community that Mustapha had been injured during training and needed ACL surgery Other safeties on the roster include veteran Richie Grant rookie fifth-round draft pick Marques Sigle veteran Trey Avery and Jaylen Mahoney who had snaps in three games for the ers last season all on special teams It s not strange for the ers to go shopping for safeties in the offseason Since Shanahan arrived in starting ers safeties have included Eric Reid Jimmie Ward Jaquiski Tartt Adrian Colbert Tarvarius Moore Hufanga Tashaun Gipson Mustapha and Brown Continuity was a rumor Pinnock this instant opened a closet and started looking at his old Jets playbooks under Saleh and defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich Related Articles ers rookie fire hydrant C J West douses linemen with his violent hands ers quarterback Brock Purdy becomes a girl dad Purdy and Pearsall return but ers lineman carted off with neck injury Inman under-the-radar ers who are catching my eye at camp ers Robert Saleh begins his attempt to rejuvenate a broken defense While specific of the terminology is different Pinnock achieved his goal of not undergoing a radical system change Not much adjustment honestly Pinnock revealed That was a big decision for me in free agency to not have to learn another system I sought something familiar Saleh sees a more mature competitor after playing in games with starts over the last three years Obviously he was young starting his second year when we had to cut him Saleh noted But now he s a dad he feels like he s grown years But he still has that youthful athleticism and burst HIs intent his demeanor when he gets in the building to get better has been fantastic