San Francisco 49ers star Carlos Hyde says Jarryd Hayne is on equal footing with the NFL team's other running backs.
A year ago Hayne was a wide-eyed rookie from Australia whose knowledge of the game largely came from playing Madden NFL video games.
This week, as the 49ers' off-season program gets underway, the team's running backs are all cramming to learn new head coach Chip Kelly's offensive playbook.
"This is all new for us," said Hyde, when asked how Hayne was handling Kelly's new scheme.
"We're all starting off on the same foot with this offence.
"We're all trying to get a grasp of this new offence and all trying to learn day-by-day."
The 49ers have a large contingent of running backs headed by Hyde and including Hayne, Shaun Draughn, Mike Davis, DuJuan Harris and Kendall Gaskins.
Running back coach Tom Rathman has been quizzing players in classroom-style situations about Kelly's playbook this week and apparently Hayne and the other players have been giving the right answers.
"Coach Rathman calls each one of us in the room and asks us questions and everybody answers it, even though we just learned it the other day," Hyde said.
Almost 70 players have turned up to the 49ers' Santa Clara headquarters for two weeks of voluntary sessions largely concentrating on strength and conditioning.
The squad should swell to about 90, before being cut to 53 before the start of the NFL season in September.
Hayne is not guaranteed a spot in the 53.
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