After weeks of watching injuries accrue, the 49ers have some players returning. With two division games against a pair of 7-1 opponents in the Arizona Cardinals and Los Angeles Rams on the slate, the timing is ideal for San Francisco.
The recent memories of facing the Cardinals are unlikely to be welcome for George Kittle. He’s suffered injuries against the Cardinals in two successive seasons, but just as he did last year (inexplicably), he will make a return against Arizona this season after sitting on injured reserve with a calf injury for the last four weeks.
He returned to practice on Wednesday, which he opened by bouncing around the pre-practice huddle, jumping into teammates like an aggressive, hyper rubber band ball.
He was joined Robbie Gould and Jeff Wilson Jr., both of whom also had their practice windows opened. Wilson Jr. — who is now wearing number 22 — looked solid running routes at full speed, and a potential return against the Cardinals would likely ignite fonder memories for him than Kittle. He had that famous walk-off Texas route touchdown against Arizona back in 2019 at home.
The last time, by the way, that the 49ers won a game at home, was November 5, 2020, against the Green Bay Packers. Fred Warner reaffirmed on Wednesday that fixing that is a priority for San Francisco.
Also joining Kittle, Gould and Wilson Jr. are both Azeez Al-Shaair and Dee Ford, returning after having cleared the concussion protocol.
Below is the 49ers’ practice report:
Did not practice:
- DL Maurice Hurst (calf)
- RB Elijah Mitchell (rib)
- WR Deebo Samuel (calf)
- DB Jimmie Ward (quadricep)
- T Trent Williams (ankle)
Full participation:
- LB Azeez Al-Shaair (concussion)
- DL Dee Ford (concussion)
- LB Marcell Harris (thumb)
Shanahan said that Samuel “re-aggravated” his calf injury, but would be surprised if he doesn’t play Sunday. He also expects Mitchell to practice at some point this week.
In other roster news, there were a bevy of practice squad additions. San Francisco signed LB Tyrell Adams, LB Christian Elliss, S Will Parks and WR Austin Watkins Jr. to the practice squad, and announced that defensive lineman Charles Omenihu passed his physical.