Shanahan on how Ward broke his finger: He got it caught up in a jersey in practice

49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan joined the “Murph and Mac show” on KNBR Friday morning to discuss both Nick Bosa and Jimmie Ward, among other things. I’ll add the full link once that’s provided.

When asked about Ward, Shanahan said “Jimmie’s most likely not going to play. I’ve got to talk to the doctors here in about an hour, but I’d be very surprised if he played. He broke his finger, got it caught up in a jersey in practice, ended up having surgery on it yesterday.”

Ward has a cast on his hand, and that will prevent him from playing against Tampa Bay, but Shanahan said they’d know next week and Ward could be back as soon as then.

“Jimmie’s a guy, he’s adamant he wants to play with a cast on and everything. That’s what we’re still trying to wait to see for sure on but I think we’re going to have to wait a week before we let him play with a cast on because any time you get surgery, just to do that right away, you always deal with the risk of infection and things like that, so we’ve got to play that a little safe. Don’t know for sure but I’d be surprised (if he played).”

Shanahan would not spill the beans on who would step in for Ward, though we all know. He mentioned how it’s a huge deal for offenses to know who the safeties are. “They need to know those numbers going into games, so they know how to target things and get the O-line on the right people. I’d rather them find out on the first play rather than today listen to this show.”

Shanahan did have some positive news. He’s liked what he’s seen from Nick Bosa this week in practice.

“We knew it was a tough injury. We weren’t sure if we were going to get him back this week because any time you have a high-ankle (sprain), it could be anywhere from four to eight weeks. It’s getting right up to four, and he’s had three good practices this week, and he’s ready to go.”

I think we all want to know if Bosa will be out there at 80%, 90%, or is he feeling pain-free? Shanahan said he wouldn’t be out there if he weren’t ready.

“The way he plays, the way he’s practiced, he just got back this week, but we wouldn’t put him out there if he wasn’t ready to go. We expect him to make an impact, and we expect a number of our guys to.”

The Bucs will be without starting safety Justin Evans. That means the most experienced member in the secondary will be 2016 first-round pick, Vernon Hargreaves. Every other player was drafted in 2018 or ‘19. That’s good news for Jimmy G and company.