Fooch’s update: Kyle Shanahan said on KNBR Friday morning that Joe Staley was in the weight room at 5:40 this morning working to get ready for practice.
The San Francisco 49ers will hold their final practice of Week 5 Friday morning, after which we’ll get the final injury report. The 49ers have a lengthy injury report, but two players strike me as the biggest question marks for Sunday: left tackle Joe Staley and cornerback Richard Sherman.
Staley suffered a knee injury this past Sunday, and has been a DNP each of the past two days. He worked on the side with the training stuff on Thursday, and if he got in a limited practice today, he could play on Sunday. But even then, he would likely be a game-time decision.
Mike McGlinchey and Weston Richburg, on the other hand, were both back at practice on Thursday after a Wednesday DNP, and seem on track to play Sunday. If Staley is unable to play on Sunday, Garry Gilliam would get the start in his place, and Erik Magnuson would be the primary backup. Shon Coleman or Najee Toran would then be active if Staley was inactive.
Sherman missed last week’s game with a calf injury. He was a DNP on Wednesday but then got in a limited practice session on Thursday. Prior to practice, Sherman met with the media and it was suggested he was not expected to play this week. Sherman said no, he would be back at practice on Thursday and they would take it from there. If he gets in another limited practice on Friday, he is likely to be listed as questionable for Sunday.
Last week, Jimmie Ward and Ahkello Witherspoon started at the outside cornerback positions, and Greg Mabin eventually replaced Ward. If Sherman can go, one of those three would be starting opposite him and then we would likely see some rotation among them. If Sherman cannot go, we would likely see some combination of those three rotating into the secondary.