The San Francisco 49ers listed running backs Matt Breida and Alfred Morris as questionable for Week 4, but both appear set to play. The team will release their inactives at 11:55 a.m. PT, but Adam Schefter and Ian Rapoport are both reporting the two backs are expected to play.
Both reported Breida was ahead of Morris late in the week. Morris was not listed on Wednesday, but then showed up on Thursday and Friday as limited with a knee injury. Breida injured his knee in Week 3 but finished out the game. He was limited on Wednesday, then bumped up to full on Thursday, then down to limited on Friday. Shanahan said Breida had been up and down this week, and they cut him back on Friday, “just trying to manage the wear and tear.”
Having both backs will be critical in C.J. Beathard’s first start of the season. Breida leads the NFL in yards per carry at 8.6. He was tied with Ezekiel Elliott for the league leading in rushing yards (274), but Todd Gurley passed them on Thursday. Gurley has 338 yards after his performance on TNF.
Breida has been a home-run hitter for the 49ers, while Morris has handled more of the dirty work. The veteran has 153 yards this season, and is averaging 3.8 yards per carry. Morris had been out-snapping Breida the first two weeks, but we saw Breida get more snaps (29 to 23) even with the scary second quarter knee injury. That will be something to track in Week 4 given how well Breida has performed through three weeks.