The San Francisco 49ers will be without offensive guard Joshua Garnett for at least another month, as he prepares to undergo knee surgery. Head coach Kyle Shanahan said on Wednesday that Garnett will have his knee scoped on Thursday. According to Cam Inman, Shanahan said it will be “a battle” if Garnett can get back for Week 1 of the regular season.
Garnett suffered the knee injury last week, and has been sidelined ever since. I’m guessing the delay to get his knee scoped was due to swelling, but either way, that’s the plan right now. In the meantime, Zane Beadles and Brandon Fusco are slated to be the team’s starting offensive guard for the rest of the preseason.
With starters playing no more than a quarter on Friday against the Kansas City Chiefs, the depth chart will be interesting to track behind Beadles and Fusco. Tim Barnes had been playing some second team left guard, but he will be taking over center duties full-time following the release of Jeremy Zuttah. Norman Price has gotten some right guard work, and we could see John Flynn or Erik Magnuson move up the depth chart.
The 49ers cannot place Garnett on the PUP list to start the season because he was not on the list to start training camp. But with Shanahan at least a little bit hopeful they can get Garnett back at or shortly after Week 1, they obviously wouldn’t want him deactivated for six weeks anyway.