When the San Francisco 49ers schedule came out earlier this year there was something I and many of you were left scratching our heads on. A bye week in Week 4.
Huh?
Seemed a little early, didn’t it? It’s not like it was a new change. The Carolina Panthers and Washington were on bye in 2018 for Week 4. The 49ers just happened to get it this year. While it seems early, and we may have wondered if a bye in Week 4 is really necessary, it turns out this was the time to have it.
In his Friday press conference, Kyle Shanahan said several players should be coming back after the bye week. Those players? Jalen Hurd, Tevin Coleman, and Trent Taylor.
“That’s the plan,” Shanahan said in his press conference regarding Taylor and Hurd. “I hope so. I hope there’s a chance next week, but that’s really the goal.”
When the question of Coleman was brought up Shanahan said he was in the mix as well.
“Yes, I kind of see all three of them in the same boat.”
A bye week that seemed too early is now coming at just the right time. The 49ers have been avoiding horrible injuries that plagued them to start 2018. Jerick McKinnon returned to IR, but Nick Bosa has played through his ankle injury and other players have been able to stay upright. About this time last year, we were talking about Najee Toran getting called up to the main roster to start in Week 2.
Hopefully the 49ers can be fully healthy after the bye going into Week 5. Of course, the flipside is they’ll have a gauntlet of 11 regular season games to get through. But this week off might not be coming at a better time.