Training camp can start to feel like “Groundhog Day” after a while. Take left tackle Trent Williams, for example, who has spent the second half of his NFL career with the San Francisco 49ers. Around this time, for years, he scrimmages against the same defense. Different coordinators filter through but the scheme endures. Until recently.

“I think everything’s different,” Williams said. “We’ve been going against the same defense in a team environment since I’ve been here. It’s always been the four-down front.”

Early signs of a defensive makeover under new 49ers defensive coordinator Raheem Morris have been hard to miss. Five-man fronts. Sticky coverage. Disguised shells. 

It’s gotten players on both sides of the ball comparing notes.

“I was talking to Fred about that,” quarterback Brock Purdy said. “Like it’s just, it is different. In camp, it’s usually the four-down traditional stud defensive lineman with three linebackers and a strong quarter shell defense. Now it’s like, all right, we got five down. He gives us all these different kinds of looks and the shell’s always changing. Raheem’s done a good job with, I think, trying to disguise things against the quarterback but also the techniques that the DBs are playing with now, too, that’s a whole other thing.”

Warner, the heart of the 49ers’ defense since he was drafted in 2018, added: “We’ve definitely installed some new things. … It’s new for all of us. We all got to learn.”

Morris has built a diverse defensive background. He last called plays out of a 3-4 base with the Rams from 2021-23, which included their Super Bowl run in his first year as coordinator. But his most formative years as an NFL coach exposed him to the “Tampa 2” — traditionally a 4-3 alignment — with the Buccaneers through the early 2000s. Since his arrival in Santa Clara, he has been hesitant to discuss how much change he might bring with him.

“This is not like my defense,” Morris said to open camp. “This is the defense … that’s built for the Niners and what we’ve already had in place.”

Morris’ wrinkles aren’t actually state secrets. According to Purdy and Williams, what they have faced so far this camp mirrors the kind of defense the scout team could model during game weeks. “I feel like this is the kind of stuff that we’re starting to see more in the NFL,” Purdy said.

Robert Saleh offered familiarity in his return to the 49ers last season. After all, he was the first defensive coordinator of the Shanahan era. But what if that was Raheem Morris instead?

Shanahan wanted him then. Then the 49ers waited to hire Morris, who was in the mix for head coach vacancies this past offseason.

A big emphasis for Morris since the spring has been about affording his players enough schematic simplicity to play fast. Saleh preached the same thing last season. Returning cornerback Renardo Green was asked about the differences, as the incumbent starter at a position that Morris has specifically coached before across multiple stops as an assistant.

“It’s easier to play faster,” Green said as a credit to Morris, “and I feel like he’s finer, more detailed with just realistic things. It’s a lot less thinking.”

Up against perennial All-Pro receiver Mike Evans at Wednesday’s practice, Green matched the future Hall of Famer stride-for-stride on a streak and won. Evans failed to haul in the pass over his shoulder as Green challenged. The aggressiveness Green showed earlier in the rep, pressing at the line of scrimmage, has been a noticeable coaching point embraced by the defensive backs. 

Purdy explained the importance of his receivers winning 1-on-1 matchups, a nod to the kind of physical secondary Morris is encouraging. Of course, Evans has been the ideal barometer. Green and company are having fun with it.

“Just being able to get attached to guys or being able to contest catches, make plays, challenge the guys more,” Green said. “That’s what he wants, and that fits us. That’s the type of ball players we are.”

The full scope of what a Morris defense looks like in 49ers colors is still loading. Just expect some departure from the status quo.