The San Francisco 49ers return to practice on Sunday, and the hope is they get several injured players back. Head coach Kyle Shanahan provided an injury update on players who were hurt Thursday, and players who were absent from practice this week. Two players he hopes to get back into individual work are guards Joshua Garnett and Jonathan Cooper.
Garnett was dealing with issues from last year’s knee injury, while Cooper was finishing his recovery from January MCL surgery. Both players are expected to compete for the right guard position, which right now is led by Mike Person. While Person makes a lot of sense as a utility interior lineman, he had a strong 49ers debut at right guard. He played 38 snaps and did not allow a QB pressure in 25 pass blocking snaps, according to Pro Football Focus. We’ll have to go back and check out his run game work though, because the line as a whole struggled opening up running lanes.
Shanahan said on Friday that the hope is Trent Taylor and Brock Coyle could also get back to individual work, with hopes of being in team drills by the Texans game. He thinks Sherman will push to come back, but they’ll likely hold him out of the Texans game. Arik Armstead remains sidelined and won’t practice, and Shanahan said K’Waun Williams is definitely out this week.
From last night’s injuries, everything seems to be OK long term. Shanahan confirmed that Matt Breida and George Kittle both separated their shoulders, but should be ready to go by the team Week 1 of the regular season arrives. Solomon Thomas and Garry Gilliam are in the concussion protocol, so they will remain in that as long as they have concussion symptoms. Eli Harold suffered a bone contusion, but Shanahan said he’s day-to-day and should be back sooner rather than later. Malcolm Smith strained his hamstring, and while he will likely be out this week, he could be back next week.