The 49ers play the Vikings on Monday night in Week 7, which means everything moves back a day on the practice schedule.
Wednesday is “Tuesday” in a normal week, so players have a day off today. This means that the media will not be available and we probably won’t get any injury information from the team.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter gave a vague update on Christian McCaffrey’s oblique/rib injury, saying McCaffrey will be available to play Monday night against Minnesota after avoiding a long-term injury.
No new information on Trent Williams’ right ankle injury or Deebo Samuel’s shoulder injury. 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said Monday that both players are day-to-day. Williams hasn’t practiced on Wednesdays all year. Now there’s even more reason to give him a week of veterans’ leave.
One advantage of the 8-day week is that each player gets an extra day of recovery. On Monday, Shanahan explained how knowing a player helps the 49ers decide whether or not they can play:
“Oh, that’s always the hardest thing, because you never want to do something that puts somebody at great risk to make it worse. First you have to ask the coaches, but then you go to the player and you have to do it. you have history with the player.You have to know what he’s like and things like that.I really believe that if Trent couldn’t go, Trent wouldn’t go. He will do anything to be there. However, Trent is a very smart guy who is also very competitive and understands what those decisions are. He said he could come back, I didn’t wait for him because the injury looked bad. The trainers thought it wasn’t as serious as it looked. Trent wanted to come back and then we’ll keep him the whole game, where [game coordinator/offensive line coach] Chris Foerster is doing a really good job. So did [assistant offensive line coach James] Cregg and [assistant offensive line coach] Joe [Graves], his assistant. Trent, as we thought he battled throughout the game, showed no signs of limping. It was quite a brave effort when he came out and the circumstances, especially the player he was up against.
Where is the young man?
We haven’t heard from starter Darrell Luter Jr. since Week 1, when Shanahan told Luter Jr. returns in week 5 or 6. Here is the latest Luter Jr. About Shanahan:
“I didn’t ask that last week. I know he’s getting close. I figured without a doubt it would be here in the next couple of weeks.”
Here’s an update on the 49ers PUP or injured player list:
CB Darrell Luter Jr. – the knee
CB Samuel Womack – MCL
WR Danny Gray – AC
Edge – Robert Beal – Thighs
Womack suffered an MCL injury on September 13. He didn’t need surgery. Shanahan’s last update on Womack on Sept. 15 — after saying he wasn’t a doctor — was that he believed Womack’s injury would last 6-8 weeks.
I didn’t count Cameron Latu Jr. because he did not make the final 53-man roster. He is on a season-ending IR. Because Beal Jr. and Gray was on the roster but went on IR before the season started,
Beal Jr. had a hamstring that bothered him several times in training camp. Before making the roster, general manager John Lynch said the team was excited to work with Beal Jr., but they wanted to make sure his hamstring was fine in the short term. This season could turn out to be a redshirt year for Beal Jr. for his long-term health, especially with Randy Gregory in the game.
Ray-Ray McCloud was an exceptional returner, but I thought he made some mistakes at quarterback in place of Deebo against the Browns. I wonder if the 49ers would value Gray’s ability as a deep threat. The problem with Gray’s injury is that we don’t know the severity of his shoulder injury. Of course it’s not level 1 because it takes 2-3 weeks. Gray’s AK injury occurred on August 20, about 3 months ago, suggesting that Gray’s injury was one of the most serious AK injuries.
Perhaps the 49ers value their current receivers, McCloud and Ronnie Bell, more than Gray. Bell played one snap against the Browns and lined up in the backfield. Jauan Jennings is primarily lined up in the slot. McCloud was the de facto Deebo in Week 6 when he played 30 spread snaps.
We should have updates on each 49ers youngster in the coming weeks.
