Injury updates: D.J. Jones leaves practice; James Jr. to start the season on the NFI

The San Francisco 49ers just finished practice, and head coach Kyle Shanahan provided some injury updates. Defensive tackle D.J. Jones went down during period nine, which was two periods before practice ended. The team practiced on the far-field, so it wasn’t easy to see what happened. There was a pile, and after Jones got up, he launched his helmet out of frustration. It’s a shoulder injury, but we don’t know anything else about the injury.

Arik Armstead was supposed to practice today, but that didn’t happen. Armstead was running on the other field, away from everyone else. He did not participate in any team drills. Armstead has “back tightness,” so he’s being eased back in.

I was watching Ronald Blair as he was rehabbing. He looks about 60%. There’s a noticeable limp when Blair tries to go full speed. I’d be surprised if we saw him during the first month of the season. It’d be smart to be patient with Blair, who tore his ACL leading up to Week 17. Shanahan said he’s “hopeful” Blair will be back by Week 1, but that’d be surprising based on how he looked during Thursday’s rehab session.

Shanahan also said he hopes to have Deebo Samuel back by Week 1.

Shanahan said Richie James Jr. would start the season on the NFI list. When he’s healthy, James Jr. could return at any time. He doesn’t have to wait for six weeks.

K’Waun Williams is dealing with a calf injury. Shanahan said he’s week-to-week and expects Williams to miss a couple of weeks.

Besides that, Weston Richburg and Jullian Taylor will start the PUP list season, per Shanahan. That means the both players will miss the first six weeks of the season.