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The 49ers beat writers are hanging out in Kansas City in advance of tonight's 49ers-Chiefs matchup, and with some time on their hands, a couple engaged in live chats with 49ers fans. Matt Barrows and Cam Inman each put in an hour of discussion. Earlier in the week, Matt Maiocco had his own hour-long chat.
In Barrows' chat, he was asked a question about the status of Mario Manningham. His best guess has Manningham starting the season on the PUP list. However, in his answer, he compared Manningham's situation to that of running back Kendall Hunter. The 49ers activated Kendall Hunter off the PUP list last Saturday, which meant he could practice with the team. However, while Hunter has been able to get involved in on-field work, according to Barrows, Hunter "hasn't been given the green light for a full practice."
Later in the chat, Barrows stated that he did not think Hunter would play tonight. In light of the lack of full practice, this is not surprising. Although Hunter is back on the field, the 49ers generally seem rather conservative in working their players back into game action during the preseason. I imagine if this were the regular season, Hunter might be a bit further along in the process, but in the preseason, there is no point in rushing injured players back on the field.
It's hard to tell when exactly Hunter will get into game action. If he does not get into team drills until later next week, it might not be until Week 4 of the preseason. The 49ers wrapped up their open media practices, which means it will be harder getting a handle on how involved Hunter is in practice. We could be left waiting until a week from Sunday when the 49ers take on the Minnesota Vikings before we know Hunter's status.