Working on the San Francisco write-up for the Weekly was tricky, and it made sense to push it back as far as possible. Maybe there'd be some helpful updates on player health if we waited long enough. But it was only today's practice report where anyone had a sense of just how bad it might be.
Matt Maiocco from NBC Sports Bay Area has the news here. George Kittle, Matt Breida, Emmanuel Sanders, Deebo Samuel and Robbie Gould all missed practice. Not a promising start if you're hoping to use any of these players.
Samuel (shoulder) is the unexpected one, since he played throughout the last game. Maybe it's essentially a rest day for him, and he'll be fine. But Breida and Kittle missed last week and Sanders left early with their injuries. Them not practicing is an early negative for the chances of them suiting up on Sunday.
I've been guessing that neither Breida (ankle) nor Sanders (ribs) would play. Bringing those guys back early from injury usually works out badly. With Gould, I have no idea, but there are other kickers available. He hasn't been practicing.
Kittle was supposedly close to returning a week ago; I'd moved him into my starting lineup in an FFPC Playoff semifinal this week. But...I've got Ross Dwelley on the bench, and I won't be surprised if I need to move him back into the lineup. It wouldn't be the worst thing. Worst would be Kittle being active but limited or needing to leave early. Better to have him ruled out and have the healthy guy playing. Or have Kittle practicing fully on Friday.
It's complicated by the fact that the 49ers are the Sunday night game. If there's a surprise inactive, like Samuel, you have minimal players left to choose from to put in that spot. Recommendation is to add Kendrick Bourne, if you can. Should Sanders wind up inactive, Bourne should be decent. If both Sanders and Samuel are out, Bourne should be heavily targeted.
We'll have a better sense -- hopefully -- on Friday. For now, those hoping to use any of these players (Breida, Kittle, Samuel) need to line up other options.
--Andy Richardson