Upon reporting for training camp Thursday, 49ers defensive end Justin Smith peeked at Mike Singletary’s practice schedule. He was surprised to see a listing for a tackling drill.

“I’ve never done a tackling drill in the NFL,” Smith, entering his ninth season, said. “Singletary wants to get back to basics. That’s pretty much the basics: blocking, tackling.”
The 49ers can expect a lot of new things Saturday when Singletary unleashes his first training camp practice as head coach. The coach’s current plan calls for 15 consecutive days of practices — mostly double sessions in pads.
This is not a schedule for the faint of heart.
“I know this camp is going to be brutal,” linebacker Patrick Willis said.
“Physical and intense,” left tackle Joe Staley said.
“We’re going to hit the ground running,” linebacker Takeo Spikes said.
Ordinarily, there might be some grumbling about the demanding forecast. Spikes and Smith acknowledged that there are going to be some extra bodies in the cold tub this year, tending to nicks and bruises.
But no one can gripe too much. Singletary, after all, has bust in his honor sitting in the Hall of Fame.
“That’s the thing: He’s actually done it,” Smith said, referring to Singletary’s days as a linebacker with the Chicago Bears. “I’m sure under Buddy Ryan they were hitting twice a day. “. . . He’s definitely speaking from experience, and that makes what he’s saying mean a whole lot more.”
The 49ers’ training camp looks so brutal that Vernon Davis vowed to be smarter this year about how he expends his energy.
Annually one of the biggest brawlers in camp, the tight end said he would keep his inner Muhammad Ali under control. That’s a significant pronouncement; Davis was quick to throw haymakers in his first three seasons, racking up memorable bouts against Parys Haralson (it’s on YouTube) and Larry Grant (who required attention from the training staff).
No more, Davis said.
For one thing, Singletary has no patience for fights in practice. Previous coach Mike Nolan let players trade blows now and then, reasoning that fisticuffs demonstrated a passion for the game.
The new coach just finds them a waste of time.
“I agree with him,” Davis said. “I don’t think there should be fighting. We don’t have time for that. We need to move on and keep things moving and try to win games.”
Davis said Singletary plans to punish brawls by stopping practice and making the whole team run.
“The (fighting) is behind me, but the one thing I can’t stop doing is being competitive,” Davis said. “That’s just who I am. I’m going to do my best not to lose.”
Davis puts down his dukes at a time when some of his teammates arrived with some new sparring skills. Willis, for example spent three weeks working as a mixed martial arts fighter in Las Vegas. He trained at Xtreme Couture under the guidance of its namesake, MMA fighter Randy Couture. Willis said the workouts aided his foot quickness, hand speed, leverage and body control.
“When I say, ’fun’ I mean that it was ’tough fun.’ It was rough,” he said.
Spikes, meanwhile, spent five grueling weeks in Atlanta with wide-ranging workouts that included boxing drills. His workout partners included Haralson and New York Giants defensive end Osi Uminyeora.
It won’t make Singletary’s training camp any easier. But at least now he has a fighting chance.
“I’m pretty sure (Singletary) wants to see who’s going to be all in, who is going to be his players as far as stepping up to the plate,” Spikes said. “As these weeks go on, you are going to become tired. I think that’s what he really wants to see: How guys are going to respond to the adversity.”
—General Manager Scot McCloughan offered only a three-word update on contract negotiations with first-round pick Michael Crabtree: “Nothing right now.” The Texas Tech wide receiver is the 49ers’ only unsigned rookie.
—The 49ers signed defensive lineman Babatunde Oshinowo (6-foot-1, 325 pounds) to a one-year deal. The former Stanford player spent last season on the Philadelphia Eagles’ practice squad.