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 said Monday following the first padded practice for the 49ers. “Not used to the time zone, but it’s amazing. The weather’s good.”
Early indications are Pinnock, 26, will step in as a starting safety when the 49ers open the regular season on Sept. 7 in Seattle. With Malik Mustapha sidelined while rehabbing an ACL tear, Pinnock and third-year player Ji’Ayir Brown are running with the first team.
Coach Kyle Shanahan liked what he saw of Pinnock in the offseason program, 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 49ers probably know as much about Pinnock as he does about the West Coast. But he started 32 games in the last two seasons for the New York Giants and had 85 tackles each of the last two seasons and played 95 percent of the snaps. He’s confident without being a big talker, but isn’t shy about assessing his skillset.
Pinnock’s numbers — 82 career blitzes with the 6 1/2 sacks (one with the Jets, six with the Giants) — suggest more of a box safety. But the 49ers can be interchangeable on the back end and Pinnock is eager to prove he can hold up in coverage.
He’s given up a 111.9 career passer rating to receivers in his area according to ProFootballReference.com and eight touchdowns with two interceptions, although one of them was returned 102 yards for a touchdown.
“I feel like I’m all in one,” Pinnock said. “I came in as a corner, so I can play press man, gritty press man. I come off the edge, I had 6 1/2 (sacks) in New York, so I showed that. I’m good playing down in the run game and I’m a ball hawk. That’s probably the main thing I have to say to show the league is that part. But everything else is just as important to me.”
A fifth-round draft pick by the Jets in 2021, Pinnock made the team in Robert Saleh’s first season as head coach. And even though Pinnock was a surprise cut by Jets at the final 53 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 said.
“We had that discussion a long time ago,” Saleh said. “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 found a role for him and really gave J.P. confidence that he can play in this league.”
The 49ers moved quickly to sign Pinnock to a one-year contract worth a guaranteed $2.2 million shortly after Talanoa Hufanga signed a free agent contract with Denver. Soon after it became public 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 30 snaps in three games for the 49ers last season all on special teams.
It’s not unusual for the 49ers to go shopping for safeties in the offseason. Since Shanahan arrived in 2017, starting 49ers safeties have included Eric Reid, Jimmie Ward, Jaquiski Tartt, Adrian Colbert, Tarvarius Moore, Hufanga, Tashaun Gipson, Mustapha and Brown.
Continuity was a rumor.
Pinnock immediately opened a closet and started looking at his old Jets’ playbooks under Saleh and defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich.
While some of the terminology is different, Pinnock achieved his goal of not undergoing a radical system change.
“Not much adjustment, honestly,” Pinnock said. “That was a big decision for me in free agency, to not have to learn another system. I wanted something familiar.”
Saleh sees a more mature player after playing in 44 games with 37 starts over the last three years.
“Obviously he was young, starting his second year when we had to cut him,” Saleh said. “But now he’s a dad — he feels like he’s grown 20 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.”