Injury updates are not generally positive for the 49ers. This one is.
San Francisco got the benefit of a rare, perfectly mid-season bye week last week. It splits the 2022 campaign in half, and allowed the 49ers, at 4-4, an opportunity to get a number of key players back for the second half.
It’s a stretch which features just three away games, one of which will be a favorable matchup against the Arizona Cardinals in Mexico City two weeks from now.
First up in the second-half gauntlet is the Los Angeles Chargers, who’ve been nursing a plethora of injuries, especially to key position players.
Keenan Allen, listed as day-to-day, has been dealing with a lingering hamstring injury and did not practice on Wednesday. Jalen Guyton was lost for the season last week. Mike Williams is expected to miss multiple weeks with an ankle injury, and tight end Donald Parham Jr. (hamstring) missed last week.
The 49ers had just two players absent from practice on Wednesday, per Kyle Shanahan’s injury report. Though, in the portion open to reporters, Trent Williams was not involved; he was in a jersey doing side field work, taking a rest day. He’s usually given vet days on Wednesdays. The only other absence was Aaron Banks, who was given a personal day.
Both Arik Armstead (foot/ankle) and Samson Ebukam (quad/Achilles) missed practice Wednesday. Shanahan said Ebukam suffered the quad injury on Monday.
He also disclosed to reporters that Armstead is dealing with a left fibula fracture/stress fracture and plantar fasciitis on his right foot. There has been no concrete timeline provided for Armstead’s return, and he acknowledged to reporters on Monday that his recovery has taken longer than initially hoped.
Plantar fasciitis injuries are tricky, so while Armstead said he expects and hopes to return “soon,” it’s unclear exactly what that means. This week doesn’t seem exceedingly likely, but could it be in the next month? There’s no way of knowing for sure at this juncture, which is difficult to deal with given how valuable he is.
The only other injury statuses the 49ers had on Wednesday were limited practices for Jason Verrett (knee) and Dre Greenlaw (calf). Shanahan said the team is considering giving Verrett limited opportunities on Sunday to ease him back into action.
Otherwise, the 49ers were healthy. Elijah Mitchell, Azeez Al-Shaair and Colton McKivitz — all of whom had their injured reserve practice windows opened on Monday — were all active without restrictions. Defensive end Jordan Willis had his practice window opened on Wednesday.
All three of Deebo Samuel (hamstring), Jauan Jennings (hamstring) and Kyle Juszczyk (finger) were full participants.
Barring setbacks, the 49ers appear to be the healthier team heading into Sunday’s matchup.