49ers RB Carlos Hyde practices in full

SANTA CLARA, Calif. Carlos Hyde went through a full practice Wednesday after suffering both a blow to the head and another to the lower leg three days earlier in Pittsburgh.

The 49ers starting running back was cleared of a concussion after he was struck on the crown of his helmet by linebacker Lawrence Timmons in the third quarter. Niners coach Jim Tomsula, meanwhile, said there was nothing wrong with the submarine hit Pittsburgh safety Mike Mitchell put on Hyde at the end of a run in the second quarter.

Hyde got up slowly from the shot and was tended to by trainers before re-entering the game. Tomsula noted there was no penalty on the play.

“He came in to tackle low,” Tomsula said. “I mean, I put it as a low tackle. Carlos is a big, strong, physical back. That’s all I have to say on that. It’s football and it’s not a knee or a hip, it was in his leg, his (quadriceps).”

Hyde still leads the NFL in rushing at 211 yards he has seven more than Pittsburgh’s DeAngelo Williams despite missing one and a half quarters Sunday. One of his strengths is his ability take on and fight through tackles, something that also exposes him to big hits.

Does he need to alter that style, Tomsula was asked, to make it through a full season? “I don’t think you change the DNA of a guy,” he said. “That’s him. That’s what he does. That’s what we love about him.”

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