49ers introduce mobile tackling dummies to practice field

SANTA CLARA – It did not show up on the transaction wire, but the 49ers expanded their roster during training camp to 93 participants on Monday.

The newcomers are not your typical camp fodder. And they’ll remain with the 49ers through the entire season, serving roles as, literally, tackling dummies.

The 49ers received a shipment of three motorized, self-righting, mobile tackling dummies from Mobile Virtual Player – the brainchild of Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens, who served three seasons at Stanford from 2002 to ’04.

“We like it,” Kelly said on Wednesday. “I know Buddy Teevens from Dartmouth very well. They’re the ones who designed them, came up with the original idea. We tried to build one…