SANTA CLARA -- Chip Kelly, known for his smarts, once tried to build a dummy.
"It broke after the first tackle," the 49ers coach said Wednesday. "It went really fast, but . . .”
The idea of a motorized tackling dummy was perfected by a friend of Kelly's, Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens, who developed one that not only moves but that can withstand the pounding of an NFL training-camp practice.
The 49ers ordered three -- they officially are known as Mobile Virtual Players -- and put them to the test this week in practice.