SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — The San Francisco 49ers released special teams standout George Odum on Saturday in the latest move to overhaul that unit.
Odum had been placed on the non-football injury list on Friday and now is off the roster entirely before the first training camp practice is scheduled for Wednesday.
Odum had spent the past three seasons with the Niners, leading them with 759 snaps on special teams and tied for the fourth-most special teams tackles in the NFL with 36 in that span.
Odum was a second-team All-Pro for San Francisco in 2022 but missed 11 games the past two seasons with injuries.
The Niners have made major changes on their special teams after struggles in 2024 led to the firing of coordinator Brian Schneider. Brant Boyer was hired to take over and has made changes at punter, with Thomas Morstead replacing Mitch Wishnowsky and long snapper with Jon Weeks replacing Taybor Pepper.
The Niners also brought in kicker Greg Joseph to compete with incumbent Jake Moody and several other players with extensive special teams experience including linebackers Chazz Surratt and Luke Gifford, tight end Luke Farrell and defensive backs Richie Grant, Siran Neal and Jason Pinnock.
The Niners placed several other players on injured lists Friday to start training camp, with all being eligible to be activated at any time. Receivers Brandon Aiyuk (knee) and Ricky Pearsall (hamstring), safety Malik Mustapha (knee), linebacker Curtis Robinson (knee), defensive lineman Yetur Gross-Matos (undisclosed) and offensive lineman Andre Dillard (undisclosed) are all on the physically unable to perform list.
Offensive lineman Ben Bartch (undisclosed) is on the non-football injury list.
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FILE - San Francisco 49ers safety George Odum (30) stands for the national anthem before playing against the Seattle Seahawks in an NFL football game, Sunday, Nov 17, 2024, in Santa Clara, Calif. (AP Photo/Jeff Lewis, File)
A Ukrainian drone strike killed one person and wounded three others in the Russian city of Voronezh, local officials said Sunday.
A young woman died overnight in a hospital intensive care unit after debris from a drone fell on a house during the attack on Saturday, regional Gov. Alexander Gusev said on Telegram.
Three other people were wounded and more than 10 apartment buildings, private houses and a high school were damaged, he said, adding that air defenses shot down 17 drones over Voronezh. The city is home to just over 1 million people and lies some 250 kilometers (155 miles) from the Ukrainian border.
The attack came the day after Russia bombarded Ukraine with hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles overnight into Friday, killing at least four people in the capital Kyiv, according to Ukrainian officials.
For only the second time in the nearly four-year war, Russia used a powerful new hypersonic missile that struck western Ukraine in a clear warning to Kyiv and NATO.
The intense barrage and the launch of the nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile followed reports of major progress in talks between Ukraine and its allies on how to defend the country from further aggression by Moscow if a U.S.-led peace deal is struck.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday in his nightly address that Ukrainian negotiators “continue to communicate with the American side.”
Chief negotiator Rustem Umerov was in contact with U.S. partners Saturday, he said.
Separately, Ukraine’s General Staff said Russia targeted Ukraine with 154 drones overnight into Sunday and 125 were shot down.
Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
This photo provided by the Ukrainian Security Service on Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, shows a fragment believed to be a part of a Russian Oreshnik intermediate range hypersonic ballistic missile that hit the Lviv region. (Ukrainian Security Service via AP)
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, second left, listens to British Defense Secretary John Healey during their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Danylo Antoniuk)
