The San Francisco 49ers will be without wide receiver Bruce Ellington at Tuesday's practice due to a leg strain suffered on Monday. Tomsula said it was not the same injury that cost him much of the offseason workout program, but is the other leg.
Ellington dealt with an ankle injury for a month last season, and missed Week 17 with a hamstring injury. When it comes to speedy guys, leg injuries can be a concern. Being a smaller guy is a concern as well, but those leg injuries can often crop up.
Ellington's absence on Tuesday will provide big opportunities for Jarryd Hayne and DeAndrew White. The two of them are in the group competing for opportunities in the return game. We don't know exactly how much special teams work the 49ers will do on Tuesday, but they will get the bulk of the return opportunities.
It is worth noting, in discussing injuries in general, Tomsula talked about being proactive as opposed to reactive. He said guys like Darnell Dockett, Reggie Bush, Aaron Lynch, Kendall Hunter and Jimmie Ward are all on rep counts as the team gets them prepared for Week 1 of the regular season. Bush, Lynch, Hunter and Ward have not gotten any reps through the first three days of practice. Tomsula said Bush was getting more of a Justin Smith type treatment in terms of not getting much practice work in early on. Obviously we don't want to see the younger guys dealing with rep counts due to injuries, but that's what we're left with for now.
In other injury news, Issac Blakeney is also dealing with a leg strain, and Ben Gottschalk has a foot issue and had to get a procedure on it. There is no word on specifics for Gottschalk's injuries, so we'll see if he gets back in time for preseason action, or if the foot injury ends up costing him even that.