The San Francisco 49ers return to practice Thursday afternoon, and it appears two notable players will once again be absent. Head coach Jim Tomsula told the media on Thursday that running back Shaun Draughn and offensive lineman Marcus Martin will both miss practice. There is no word yet on their status for Sunday's game, and the team has one more practice on Friday.
Draughn suffered a knee sprain this past Sunday, and he said he is day-to-day. A limited practice on Friday might be enough for him to play Sunday, but my guess is he ends up inactive this weekend. The 49ers currently have Kendall Gaskins and DuJuan Harris as their two healthy running backs, along with Bruce Miller at fullback. Tomsula mentioned that Bruce Ellington can handle some carries if need be. I recall seeing him do that a little bit his rookie year. The other option would be to promote Jarryd Hayne off the practice squad. The team has until 1 p.m. PT on Saturday to make such a move.
Martin suffered a concussion on Sunday, and remains in the concussion protocol. If he is a DNP on Friday, he won't play on Sunday, and even if he is limited, my guess is he ends up sitting this weekend. If that's the case, Daniel Kilgore will start at center, and then we probably would see Erik Pears at right guard and Trenton Brown at right tackle. We'll find out more about Martin's status tomorrow with the final injury report.