Odell Beckham Jr. signs with the Rams; expects to play Monday night against the 49ers

The 49ers returned to practice Thursday. Since they play on Monday, the schedule is a day off. Here’s a list of players who did not return:

FS Jimmie Ward (quad)

RB JaMychal Hasty (ankle)

WR Mohamed Sanu (knee)

FS Tavon Wilson (foot)

CB Dre Kirkpatrick (ankle)

DT Maurice Hurst (calf)

Kyle Shanahan said he expects Ward to practice Thursday and sounded like he expects Ward to suit up Monday night.

Limited:

RB Elijah Mitchell (ribs)

WR Deebo Samuel (calf)

CB Emmanuel Moseley (neck)

CB Josh Norman (ribs)

Dre Greenlaw’s practice window was pushed out another week.

Could a rookie start at cornerback this week? Here’s Shanahan, on Ambry Thomas: “He’s had a real good last few weeks. I’ve been excited about him — doing better each week, and he’s earned the right to be out there more, and the right to dress, hopefully.”

Shanahan doesn’t expect JaMychal Hasty to play Monday night. Jeff Wilson will get some carries and help out on third downs. Shanahan said that Elijah Mitchell is the starter, and Trey Sermon will serve as the third-string running back.

No more Hurd

The 49ers announced that they waived WR Jalen Hurd after failing to stay healthy during his 2.5 seasons in the NFL. In addition, the Niners signed OL Corbin Kaufusi and CB Saivion Smith to the practice squad.

The rich get richer

About 30 seconds after Shanahan walked off the podium; reports surfaced that Odell Beckham Jr. had signed with the Los Angeles Rams. After a few source wars on Twitter, multiple national reporters confirmed that Beckham Jr. didn’t only sign with the Rams, but he expects to play Monday night against the 49ers.

First, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported the deal happened. Then, this happened:

Eventually, a deal went down as Beckham Jr. is supposedly close friends with Von Miller, who the Rams recently added.

OBJ was never missing a primetime game.

The players were getting this news, and there were live reactions. Fred Warner: “That’s great. If he plays, great. If he does (sign), great.”

Jimmy Garoppolo: “Uh, in our building, I guess you can say. I’m happy with guys we’ve got right now.”

If you think Jimmy would rather throw to Jauan Jennings than Beckham Jr....

During the past few seasons, Sean McVay’s offenses have been handcuffed unlike any other with Jared Goff under center. Now, he has a shiny new toy to go with his shiny new quarterback.

I feel like the 49ers' defense has played the Rams better than any other team in the league under that time. McVay knows how he’s struggled against San Francisco’s defenses. You think he doesn’t want a little payback on TV?