The San Francisco 49ers return to on-field practice on Wednesday, and their remains question at free safety. Head coach Kyle Shanahan said that Jimmie Ward will be limited in practice today. Jaquiski Tartt and Lorenzo Jerome are competing to start on Sunday, but the coaching staff has not made a final decision between the two.
Ward spent training camp on the PUP list due to a hamstring injury, and was activated two weeks ago. He did not participate in the 49ers final two preseason games, and remains a question mark as the season gets underway. Shanahan said they want to see how he looks the next couple days, and “once he can string together a few good days in a row, is when we’ll fill better about putting him in the game.”
After Ward opened camp on PUP, Tartt was installed as the starter. Tartt suffered a rib injury shortly after that and Jerome moved into the starting lineup. Jerome got the start the first two preseason games, but then Tartt started the third game, and Adrian Colbert started the final preseason game. In that third game, while Tartt did start, they also used Jerome in dime packages, with Tartt turning it into a big dime. I imagine we’ll see plenty of both on Sunday if and when Ward is inactive.