A sweat-covered Jarryd Hayne took off his helmet, flashed a smile and walked off the San Francisco 49ers' practice field.
The former Parramatta NRL star had just caught passes from star quarterback Colin Kaepernick, went helmet-to-helmet with feared linebacker Nick Moody and easily caught spiralling punts in windy conditions at one end of the field and took them to the end zone.
Hayne did it with pads and a helmet on - a first for the 27-year-old from Minto in Sydney.
"Obviously, pads today," head coach Jim Tomsula told reporters.
"Exciting time for everybody."
With the first NFL pre-season game against the Houston Texans just 10 days away and their regular season opener against the Minnesota Vikings on September 14, the move to pads and helmets on Tuesday took the 49ers' training camp up a gear.
The contact between the offensive and defensive units was well off the level of a NFL game, but there was plenty of speculation about how Hayne would do.
He had a couple of mix ups, including when Kaepernick faked a hand-off and Hayne was left expecting the ball.
Running back coach Tom Rathman also yelled at the Australian for not hustling to a drill and battering a blocking sled hard enough.
But, praise overwhelmed the negatives.
In a blocking drill, Hayne lined up against Moody, who just days earlier the Australia had described in awe on how the linebacker ran over the top of running backs.
Hayne, who wears the number 38, and Moody launched at each other, their helmets colliding, and it was Moody who was stopped in his tracks.
"There you go. There you go," Rathman said after Hayne won the joust.
"I like it 38."
The 49ers then moved to a fast-paced offence versus defence game, with Hayne rotating in and out with the other running backs alongside Kaepernick.
On one play, Kaepernick threw a fade pass down the right side of the field, Hayne was in open space, caught the ball and showed the speed that made him an ace in the rugby league world for a 40-yard gain.
Soon after, with both arms protecting the ball, he shot through a gap in the middle of the defence.
But, on the next play, 188cm tall, 111kg linebacker Desmond Bishop tackled Hayne around the neck and then 191cm, 137kg defensive tackle Mike Purcell came in and shoved the Australian to the turf.
There were no hard feelings, with Purcell giving Hayne a tap on the head.
The 49ers kept Hayne, with a Wednesday (Thursday AEST) media conference scheduled, away from journalists after the practice.
The 90-man squad will be cut to 75 on September 1 and to the final 53 players four days later.
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