The San Francisco 49ers took care of some roster business on Tuesday, placing five players on the NFI and PUP lists. Daniel Kilgore was placed on the PUP list, while Carlos Hyde, Aaron Lynch, Trent Brown and DeAndre Smelter were all placed on the NFI list.
Since that news came down, both Matt Barrows and Matt Maiocco have both suggested some of those situations should be very short term. Both said Hyde, Lynch and Brown should all be activated fairly soon. They might miss a little bit of practice, but it should not be very much. Hyde was dealing with a calf strain during the offseason workout program, while Lynch was dealing with a hamstring injury. There is no word on Brown's injury. Kilgore continues to rehab, and has said he expects to be back during camp, but there is no specific word on his return.
The other big news is the fact that Darnell Dockett and Jimmie Ward were both cleared to practice. Both sat out the offseason workout program. Dockett was rehabbing his ACL injury, while Ward was rehabbing his foot injury. It sounded like both would be ready for camp, but until we actually heard the news they were not on the injury list, it was still a wait-and-see type of deal.
Having both players healthy will get the 49ers in position to get a better handle on their defensive line and cornerback situations. My guess is Dockett's primary role will be nickel defensive tackle. The 49ers have played a significant amount of nickel in the past, so this would be a substantial role. As for Ward, he'll be competing for the nickel role. Keith Reaser got work there during the offseason workout program, but if healthy, I see Ward claiming the role. Of course, we don't know what Eric Mangini has in mind for the defense, so who knows what kind of rotation there might be in the secondary.
This also means that Brandon Thomas, Tramaine Brock and Shareece Wright are essentially good to go. Thomas was a full participant in the offseason workout program, but Jim Tomsula said at that point he was still dealing with a "hitch in his giddy-up." Brock and Wright both missed time during the offseason workout program, but would appear to be 100 percent for the start of training camp.