Fooch’s update: Cole Wick was seen in the pre-game workout session that includes injured and likely inactive players. This suggests he will be inactive and George Kittle and Garrett Celek will both be active.
The San Francisco 49ers made a curious roster move on Monday in advance of Monday Night Football against the Green Bay Packers. The team promoted tight end Ross Dwelley to the 53-man roster and waived defensive end Ryan Delaire.
This raises a couple questions. The first is that it means they did not promote either of running backs Jeff Wilson or Matt Dayes. This would seem to be good news for Matt Breida’s availability. Breida is recovering from an ankle injury he suffered last week against the Arizona Cardinals. Kyle Shanahan said at the beginning of the week that Breida was doubtful for Monday Night Football. However, on Thursday he said he would not yet rule out the second-year running back. He said the running back was day-to-day and they had their fingers crossed.
The second question is what this means about the tight end position. George Kittle is listed as questionable with a knee injury. He was limited in all three practices this week, so it is possible he had a setback. Additionally, Garrett Celek practiced with a quadricep injury this week. He was listed as limited on Thursday, but was a full participant on Friday and Saturday. He also could have had a setback. It is possible Dwelley could be active over Cole Wick, but I feel like if that was the case, they would have released Wick in place of Dwelley.
Breida and Kittle have been the two most significant weapons for the 49ers offense through the first five weeks. It is fitting that this transaction speaks to both players, and we are coming down to the wire to get an answer on both of them.
The 49ers have to submit their inactives by approximately 3:45 p.m. The decision to not promote a running back from the practice squad could mean one or both of two things: 1) They have a banged up squad, and they can’t afford to release a player, and/or 2) they are comfortable with Alfred Morris, Raheem Mostert, and Kyle Juszczyk handling the workload.