49ers’ Lynch, Ward return to different outlooks

Recommended Video:

The 49ers welcomed two of their 2014 draft picks back to full participation in practice Tuesday, but cornerback Jimmie Ward and outside linebacker Aaron Lynch are still carrying reminders of the injuries that have sidelined them.

Ward, a first-round pick, is wearing a protective shell inside the cleat of his twice-broken right foot. The plastic device with a cushioned outer layer covers about three-quarters of his foot. It guards against yet another injury, but Ward indicated it also reminds him of his past medical issues.

“At the end of the day, it’s all in my mind,” Ward said. “Once I put it in the back of my head, I’m ready to go.”

Meanwhile, Lynch returned carrying a few of the extra pounds he gained while a back injury sidelined him in the offseason and limited his ability to lift weights and run. The former fifth-round pick said he weighs about 270 pounds after losing about 10 on a “strict diet.” As a rookie, he played in the mid-260s.

Beyond dropping a few more pounds, Lynch is still rounding into football shape.

“I’m real close,” Lynch said. “I’m close weight-wise. I’m close mentally.”

Their stories are similar, but their seasons could play out far differently in 2015.

Ward served as the nickel cornerback as a rookie before he re-broke his foot in November, but he’s served mostly as a third-team safety during his limited snaps in the past two practices.

Tramaine Brock has assumed Ward’s former role in the nickel defense, and other cornerbacks from the 2014 draft class have emerged this summer. On Wednesday, Keith Reaser, a fifth-round pick, played with the first-team defense instead of Shareece Wright, who started the preseason opener. In addition, Kenneth Acker, a sixth-round pick, played nickel cornerback on the second-team defense.

Ward was a safety at Northern Illinois, but he won’t start at the position with the 49ers, who employ Antoine Bethea and Eric Reid. The 49ers also used a second-round pick on safety Jaquiski Tarrt. In other words, Ward’s role appears murky if he can’t wrest back his nickel-cornerback spot from Brock.

“It’s competition,” Ward said. “It’s football. If he can take the spot, he can have it.”

In contrast, the 49ers will be leaning on Lynch to build on his impressive rookie season. In an off-the-bench role, Lynch shared team-high honors with six sacks and added eight quarterback hits and 27 hurries, according to Pro Football Focus.

It appeared Lynch would reprise his role as a pass-rusher in the nickel defense this season, but that was before the 49ers released Aldon Smith this month. Smith’s exit makes it likely Lynch and Ahmad Brooks (who also had six sacks in 2014) will start at outside linebacker, with third-round pick Eli Harold serving as the No. 3.

Outside linebacker Corey Lemonier remains with the first-team defense, but the 2013 third-round pick has yet to provide pressure. Lemonier has one sack in his career.

Lynch downplayed the suggestion he is destined to take Smith’s former spot.

“Honestly, I’m just here to do exactly what I’m told to do,” he said. “And that’s play football. … Anything I can do to help out the team. Whether my role is to start, whether my role is to back up, whether my role is to play in nickel packages, I’m going to go 100 percent.”

That, of course, is a fine team-first answer, but the 49ers will need Lynch to play a major role this season. As for Ward, it’s not clear what his role will be in 2015.

“I’ve just got to fit my way in somewhere,” Ward said.

Eric Branch is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: ebranch@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Eric_Branch