I'm assuming many of you 49er fans have been around football for a while now and have come to understand coachspeak.
If all Brooks had to do was lose 5-10 pounds: beat writers wouldn't be calling him out, Fangio wouldn't be calling him out, and Brooks wouldn't need take part in extracurriclar activities to get lean. It would be very easy for football players to burn off 5 pounds in a single week, 10 pounds is where it starts to get harder and I could see that being the point where special attention is needed.
So "few" is probably not just 5-10 pounds or nobody would care but when its starts getting to that 10-15 range, yeah then it becomes a big deal. And honestly 49ers can't necessarilly afford Brooks to drop off a bit, the guy was a monster for them.last season and they definately need him to pick up slack of Aldon and Bowman.
And really I know 49er fans aren't going to make a big deal of this but wake up its August 26. Per some practice reports the 49ers have looked sluggish and lethlargic in practice, and their Pre Season games have been similar. So while its not something to fret about, yet, you have to ask yourself:
Did Brooks just come into camp overweight and has failed in the past month to drop it?
OR did he come in camp in decent shape but has kind of skated by without putting in much work, and then over-indulged himself out of shape?
Either way, hopefully its not a group mentality... 49ers are a team where age is catching up to them., plus the reliance on veterans getting the majority of playing snaps with the reality that much of the core of the group has played in 8 post season games, and coming so close but failing 3 times has to be taxing and draining.
And what you don't want to happen is veteran players especially good players that are leaders not taking their job seriously and kind of skating by on their experience instead of competing to be the best they can be... that is what you consider a chink in the armor. Get enough chinks and teams to start to become exposed. Philosophies unravel and it usually ends up badly.
Not saying the Niners will collaspe, I'm just saying that hopefully all your reliable veterans especially those of whom don't have to compete with youngsters, aren't just relying on their experience to skate on by through the PS, without putting forth all that hardwork, effort, and commitment to excellency they've have had the last 3 seasons that took them to 3 NFC CGs and and a SB.