The 49ers are heading into Sunday with a patched-together defensive front, and the biggest hole is the one left by Nick Bosa.
Bosa was ruled out for the Week 3 home game against the Arizona Cardinals because of a calf injury, and the expectation is that he’ll miss more time beyond Sunday. Rookie edge Romello Height is also out after hurting his hand against Miami in Week 2, leaving San Francisco thin at the exact spot it can least afford to be thin.
To help absorb the losses, the 49ers promoted Viliami Fehoko Jr. from the practice squad to the 53-man roster and elevated Kevin Givens and Sebastian Valdez for the game at Levi’s Stadium. Khalid Kareem is expected to start at defensive end opposite Keion White.
Fehoko’s promotion carries a little extra texture. The 2023 fourth-round pick out of San Jose State had brief stops with Dallas, Washington and Indianapolis before landing on San Francisco’s practice squad earlier this week.
Sunday will be his first NFL regular-season game. At San Jose State, he put together a big college résumé across 48 games: 191 tackles, 46 tackles for loss and 23 sacks.
Givens gives the 49ers a far more familiar face. He has been with the team since arriving as an undrafted free agent in 2019, appearing in 70 games with 14 starts.
His career line includes 93 tackles, eight sacks and one forced fumble. Valdez, an undrafted free agent out of Washington in 2025, spent his rookie season on the practice squad and has not yet played in an NFL game.
The depth chart could get even more interesting later in the week. The NFL transaction report showed four players who worked out Saturday: linebackers Matt Judon and Jamin Davis, along with defensive ends Julian Okwara and Dawuane Smoot.
Judon played 13 games for Miami and one for Buffalo last season and did not record a sack after collecting 72 over his first nine NFL seasons. Smoot had two sacks for Jacksonville in 2025.
Davis appeared in two games for Las Vegas, and Okwara had been out of the league after Cleveland released him in August.
Adam Schefter posted on X that the workouts came after the 49ers lost six defensive linemen in two weeks. As of Saturday evening, no signings from that group had been announced.
Having lost six defensive lineman in the past two weeks, the 49ers worked out LB Matt Judon, LB Jamin Davis, DE Julian Okwara and DE Dawuane Smoot.
- Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 26, 2026
Bosa’s injury happened during a high-knees warmup before Thursday’s walk-through. Kyle Shanahan said Friday that the calf issue should keep Bosa out for about a few weeks and that the team considered injured-reserve placement because of the limited designated-return spots. The 49ers ultimately kept him off IR and instead put wide receiver Demarcus Robinson there.
The list of available defensive linemen for Sunday now runs through Keion White, Osa Odighizuwa, Gracen Halton, Khalid Kareem, Naquan Jones, Ogbo Okoronkwo, Fehoko, Givens and Valdez. White, acquired in a trade last season, is now the most experienced healthy edge rusher on hand.
San Francisco enters the game 2-0, with kickoff set for 4:05 p.m. ET on FOX.
The team has already placed C.J. West, Sam Okuayinonu and Alfred Collins on injured reserve this month, and Shanahan said the group will need to rise to the challenge.
He also pointed to practice this week as evidence the replacements can handle the added workload.
Fehoko’s first NFL game will also come with a local angle. He grew up in the Bay Area, starred at St.
Francis High in Mountain View and later earned Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year honors at San Jose State. For a defense being stretched by injuries, it’s a small storyline inside a much bigger scramble.
Whether any of the Saturday tryout players are signed later this week is still unclear. For now, the 49ers are planning to get through the Cardinals game with the nine linemen currently on the active roster and sort out Bosa’s timeline after that.
In Other News...
Cardinals May Be Getting Key Help Back At Perfect Time
The Cardinals did not make any practice squad elevations before their Week 3 meeting with the 49ers, a small but telling sign that the team may be expecting some of its injured pieces to be available. Roy Lopez and Max Melton were both listed as questionable, but both took part in recent practices, which gave Arizona some reason for optimism as it tried to get healthier for a tough divisional test.
Garrett Williams was also cleared to return for his 2026 debut, giving Arizona another potential boost as it prepares for San Franciscos defense. The Cardinals focus is not just on their own injury picture, either, with the head coach also weighing in on the 49ers linebacker tandem of Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw, a reminder of the challenge waiting if Arizona does get some key help back in time. [Read more 🡒]
Cardinals Suddenly Face A Quarterback Decision That Could Reshape Their Depth Chart
The quarterback market has a way of turning a backup into a storyline, and Gardner Minshew is suddenly part of one again. With Jaxson Dart injured, the Giants are weighing their options under center, and ESPNs Adam Schefter mentioned the Cardinals as a possible trade partner as New York looks around for help. For Arizona, that puts a familiar veteran squarely into the middle of a conversation that goes beyond one teams depth chart and into how much value a steady reserve can carry this time of year.
Minshews ties to the Giants offensive coordinator and head coach only add another layer to the discussion, but nothing is settled yet. No trade has been confirmed, and both sides are expected to keep evaluating their situations before any move is made. For the Cardinals, the question is whether this remains just outside noise or becomes the kind of decision that reshapes the quarterback room in a hurry. [Read more 🡒]
Cardinals DB Draws Attention To An NFL Rule Fans Hate
A week after a game that already had plenty of on-field details to sort through, Cardinals cornerback KeiTrel Clark found himself dealing with something a lot less familiar than coverage busts or missed tackles. The NFL fined him $6,651 for wearing eye black with an unauthorized personal message, another reminder of how tightly the league polices uniform details in the name of professionalism and sponsorship protection.
Clark pushed back publicly on social media, which gave the issue a little extra life with fans who have long bristled at the leagues rulebook. But the policy is plain enough: no writing on eye black, no matter what the message says, and the fine serves as another example of how even small personal touches can run straight into the NFLs uniform code. [Read more 🡒]