SANTA CLARA, Calif. — A San Francisco 49ers roster eaten by injuries got a few bodies back for Monday’s practice. But the team also received more bad news.
One of the standouts from Saturday’s preseason game against the Tennessee Titans, defensive tackle Kalia Davis, was forced to leave the game with an unexpected knee injury that would require surgery and keep him out of action for around half the season.
Against the Titans, Davis had two more hits in the backfield in addition to recording the lone sack for San Francisco.
“I thought it was one of his best games,” Kyle Shanahan said. “It was really unfortunate. He played awesome throughout the whole game. That’s why he, and us, were real surprised that he had such a tough injury.”
Davis and cornerback Ambry Thomas, who broke his forearm in the game, will have surgery this week.
The 49ers canceled their intentions to scrimmage in Southern California later this week against the New Orleans Saints in part because of those injuries. Every summer he has been in San Francisco, Shanahan has organized a combined practice, which he claims to cherish more than the preseason games.
However, he claimed on Monday that his teams had never had them while he was a member of Atlanta, Cleveland, or Washington and that it was incomprehensible to have about 20 guys observing from the sidelines. Because of the short turnaround from the Saints game five days earlier, he claimed the 49ers will also not attempt to schedule a scrimmage with the Las Vegas Raiders before to their preseason game on August 23.
“It’s not something that you have to do,” he said of joint practices. “We did one once in Houston, I believe. I just think it breaks up the monotony of camp, but we can generate that stuff ourselves. Sometimes it’s nice to go against different schemes, but it all changes once the year starts anyway.”
Additionally, he pointed out that despite the team’s high injury rate, the majority of the ailments have been muscular strains, particularly hamstring problems, which sideline players for weeks rather than months. With rookies Ricky Pearsall, Jacob Cowing, and Isaac Guerendo experiencing hamstring problems at different times this summer, it appears that young, offensive skill position players have been particularly severely struck.
Ronnie Bell and Trent Taylor are the only two receivers who have participated in each and every training camp practice. Chris Conley and Deebo Samuel Sr. have also avoided injuries, despite receiving so-called “rest” days this summer.
Before moving to San Francisco last season, Conley was a player for four different teams. He claimed that sessions here are quicker and more rigorous. The 49ers are supposed to develop a “callus” that will support them throughout the season.
“Some of those (younger) guys have to learn what that means and learn how to get warm and stay loose and be ready,” Conley said. “But obviously, you see some of the veteran guys who have been through that. They understand what it takes and they get ready early.”
Teams used to practice twice a day in the summer when Shanahan took over as coach in the early 2000s. Additionally, unlike currently, athletes did not receive a day off after every three practice sessions.
But Shanahan pointed out that players are playing quicker when they get more rest, which contributes to some of the problems the club is facing.
“Sometimes when we used to go two practices a day, everyone was so tired and slow, it was harder to get hurt because no one could move that fast,” he said. “We’ve been on both sides, and I definitely like the way it is now. It’s smarter now, but there’s some give and take with everything.”
Odds and ends
• Three guards, Jon Feliciano (knee), Spencer Burford (broken hand), and Ben Bartch (unknown), were among the others who did not practice on Monday. According to Shanahan, Feliciano will not be practicing this week due to knee soreness. As a result, youngster Dominick Puni will continue to train with the starting lineup.
“He’s been good since his first snap,” Shanahan said of Puni. “So it hasn’t seemed too big for him. He’s gotten better each day in practice. And when you see that, you really want to see how it is in the game and see if anything changes. He looked the same in the game as in practice. So we’re excited about that.”
Practice was also missed by tight end Brayden Willis (soreness), running back Christian McCaffrey (calf), defensive end Sam Okuayinonu (unknown), receiver Pearsall (shoulder), cornerback Isaac Yiadom (ankle), and Guerendo (hamstring).
Security Meanwhile, George Odum was permitted to attend his child’s birth. With the first team defense, rookie Jaylen Mahoney and rookie Tracy Walker III covered at safety.
According to Shanahan, orthopedic surgeon Talanoa Hufanga (ACL) will meet with safety on Thursday. The 49ers will begin easing Hufanga back into practices later this month if the meeting goes well.
• On Monday, a few 49ers players were back, notably middle linebacker Fred Warner, who was his normal animated self. Along with Cowing, receiver Danny Gray, linebacker Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles, cornerback Darrell Luter Jr., and defensive tackle Jordan Elliott were also back in the mix.
• The 49ers’ first team players played every snap in Monday’s practice because the second and third teams saw the majority of the action on Saturday. George Kittle and quarterback Brock Purdy saw a lot of action as a result. With just two incomplete passes, Purdy targeted his tight end eight times; the only other incompletion occurred when defender Charvarius Ward shoved Kittle out of bounds with a toss at the sideline.
In the non-padded session, Purdy finished 9 out of 15 with drops from Cowing and Gray. On the last throw of practice, he was also aiming for Cowing with a deep pass close to the goal line. The pass appeared to be headed for a score, but Deommodore Lenoir, the cornerback, timed his leap expertly and intercepted it.
Lenoir had a fantastic spring practice and may have been the most reliable player throughout training camp.
• The 49ers placed wide receiver Frank Darby (hamstring) on the reserve/injured list and signed wide receiver Robbie Chosen, formerly known as Robbie Anderson, on Monday.
The 31-year-old Chosen joined the league in 2016 and had his best year, totaling 1,096 yards for the Carolina Panthers in 2020. He played for the Miami Dolphins, whose offense is comparable to San Francisco’s, in nine games the previous season.
Shanahan said he’s always admired Chosen’s speed.
“I always thought he played physical, ran his routes very well,” he said. “When you’re a very good go runner, streak runner but also can run a slant, it’s a problem.”
Robbie Chosen (no. 7) takes his first reps for the 49ers. Chosen, 31, played nine games in Miami last year, so he’s familiar with SF’s system. pic.twitter.com/aBXZnVxTnp
— Matt Barrows (@mattbarrows) August 13, 2024
(Photo of Kalia Davis: Steve Roberts / USA Today)
