49ers activate S Jimmie Ward from the PUP list

The San Francisco 49ers today announced that DB Jimmie Ward had been activated from the Active/Physically Unable to Perform List. Kyle Shanahan said last week that they didn’t expect Ward to be back until the second week of the preseason, so this is earlier than expected.

Ward broke his collarbone on May 23 and was expected to miss six to eight weeks, so this timeline would be right on schedule. Ward will start at free safety when he does return to practice. Because he’s activated today, doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll practice right away. We will see.

The support from fans for Ward is all over the place. I think we all are frustrated that he struggles to stay healthy, but can all acknowledge he has the ability. Where most disagree is what position he should be playing, or if he should be relied on to the degree the team does.

This is a big training camp for Ward.