The San Francisco 49ers held out a couple of rookies Saturday night against the Denver Broncos in their first preseason game. Head coach Kyle Shanahan shared his reasons why and provided injury updates during his postgame press conference.
Shanahan said the team is being cautious with rookie cornerback Upton Stout, whose “calf was tight.” The way the coaching staff and players are talking about Stout, it’s wise to take it slow with their starting nickel.
Chase Lucas filled in for Stout, and he impressed his head coach. Shanahan said, “It was fun to watch Chase today. He flew around. We kept him a nickel the whole game. He’s kind of our Energizer Bunny.”
Rookie first-round pick Mykel Williams has a hyperextended knee that kept him out. Shanahan believes Williams will miss a week or so. The same is true for safety Richie Grant, who sat out Saturday’s game. Shanahan said, “He’ll probably be about a week or so too.”
Rookie safety Marques Sigle has a knee injury. Shanahan didn’t want to speak too much on the injury until his tests were confirmed. Here’s Shanahan’s response:
“I don’t think so. I don’t want to speak too soon, it looked more like just a knee bruise and stuff, but we’ll have to see. I thought he was one of the guys who flashed a lot tonight. He got a little bit late start on being injured in the offseason. I think it was a few days into camp where he really got going. But he’s had a hell of a week here and finished it off good today.”
According to Shanahan, the 49ers are still in a good position where they have enough healthy players for their joint practice against the Raiders this week:
“Yeah, we are, but I mean it’s definitely getting hard. We had 19 guys that didn’t dress today because of injuries and that’s not counting the PUP guys and things like that, or there’s about probably seven healthy guys that I sat. Hopefully we can get a bunch of guys back for Monday. I mean, it’s real important that we get two good practices in Monday and Tuesday. So hopefully we’re in a better spot Thursday when we go against the Raiders.”
Second-year players Renardo Green and Jacob Cowing are expected to return to practice this week, depending on how their workouts go on Sunday. Shanahan said, “We were hoping, we were planning on getting them back this week. Hope it’s sooner than later because I don’t want their first practice to be against another team.”
Green is penciled in as a starter, but Cowing, while receiving plenty of offseason praise, still needs plenty of reps and live action. So his return is crucial, especially while Brandon Aiyuk and Jauan Jennings remain out with injuries.
About the Author: Insidethe49
