The San Francisco 49ers opened Monday’s practice with a few notable names still missing, and the biggest one on the list was Christian McCaffrey. He was already expected to be on a rep count, according to Chris Foerster, but he also sat out because of “tightness,” leaving his status worth watching as the team heads into a busy preseason week.
San Francisco is moving into preseason mode now, with a joint practice set for Tuesday and its first preseason game on Thursday. That makes every practice rep matter, and the absences at running back were impossible to miss.
McCaffrey was out, and so were Jordan James, Kaelon Black, and Isaac Guerendo. That left Sincere McCormick, Patrick Taylor Jr., and Khalil Herbert available, with Kyle Juszczyk always a candidate to slide into the backfield if needed.
Nick Bosa was also absent for a fourth straight practice because of “soreness.” His return had seemed to be getting closer, but the team isn’t sounding alarmed.
On Saturday, Kyle Shanahan said there was no reason for concern, explaining: “No. He was doing great, and then he got sore just going through some of the individual.
You wish that didn’t happen, but no, there’s no concern to where something’s happened that is a big setback or anything. We’ll wait until the soreness goes away and evaluate why the soreness has happened, but I still feel pretty good about that.”
At wide receiver, Mike Evans and Christian Kirk remained sidelined, while De’Zhaun Stribling was back on the field.
There was good news for the offensive line, too. Rookie Carver Willis has cleared the concussion protocol and returned to practice.
He worked at left guard with the second team, while Robert Jones continued with the starters. Connor Colby’s role also appears to be changing for the longer term, since he has mostly been working as a second-team right guard.
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Craigs rsum has always stood out for more than just winning. He was the first NFL player to reach 1,000 rushing yards and 1,000 receiving yards in the same season, a milestone only two others have matched since, and former teammates Steve Young and Ronnie Lott were quick to point to the work and commitment behind it. For a team built on iconic names, his enshrinement closes one of the more persistent gaps in the franchises history, even as the celebration of that era keeps expanding. [Read more 🡒]