49ers injury woes continue as key players return and others sidelined

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49ers injury woes continue as key players return and others sidelined

2025-08-20 07:20 Last Updated At：07:40

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — The injury list for the San Francisco 49ers went through a bit of a shuffle with a few key players returning from injuries Tuesday while significant questions remain on several others just a week before NFL rosters will be cut to 53 players.

Starting cornerback Renardo Green was at practice for the first time since injuring his hamstring late last month and running back Isaac Guerendo returned after missing about two weeks with a shoulder injury.

San Francisco got a handful of other players back on Tuesday who had missed less time with defensive linemen Nick Bosa, Jordan Elliott, Sam Okuayinonu and safety Jason Pinnock back.

But the news wasn't all good with backup quarterback Mac Jones sidelined this week with a knee injury that is not expected to keep him out for the season opener and backup running back and special teams stalwart Patrick Taylor going down with a season-ending shoulder injury that landed him on injured reserve.

With several other players still nursing injuries that are keeping them out of practice and putting their availability for Week 1 in question, planning the initial 53-man roster is a difficult proposition.

“It’s a really complicated thing that we really can’t talk about enough because it’s always changing each day,” coach Kyle Shanahan said. “It will be all the way up to when we make that decision.”

The biggest questions appear to be at offensive line where left guard Ben Bartch (left elbow) and and right guard Dominick Puni (right guard) are out with injuries that could sideline them for Week 1 and at receiver where Jauan Jennings is still out with a calf injury.

Jennings, who is also seeking a new contract, has been sidelined most of camp with a calf injury that also kept him out of the offseason program. The Niners need to get him back on the field soon if he is going to be ready for the opener on Sept. 7 in Seattle.

“Any player, not just Jauan or anyone, but people need to practice,” Shanahan said. “They need to get ready to play an NFL season or you end up getting hurt. So, hopefully he can get his health back so he can get that out there and start practicing. Just running routes, doing things like that.”

First-round rookie defensive end Mykel Williams was expected back this week but is still having issues with his knee so will be out at least another week. Rookie defensive tackle C.J. West is also out at least this week with a knee injury. Rookie nickelback Upton Stout didn't practice Tuesday because of a calf injury but could return soon.

Several other players were also out Tuesday, including receiver Jordan Watkins; defensive backs Tre Brown, Richie Grant and Fabian Moreau; and running back Jordan James as injuries have once again been a major issue for San Francisco this summer.

“Obviously we have too many guys down,” Shanahan said. "So we’ve got to look into all that stuff and figure out whatever we can do better.”

With Jones unavailable for the preseason finale, the Niners brought back Nate Sudfeld on a one-year deal to take Taylor's place on the roster.

Sudfeld spend the 2022 season in camp with San Francisco before getting beat out by Brock Purdy. With Purdy expected to sit out or play only a series or two on Saturday night, Shanahan needed another quarterback along with Carter Bradley to play against the Chargers.

The 49ers will likely have several players on injured lists after cut-down day with receiver Brandon Aiyuk (knee) and safety Malik Mustapha (knee) expected to miss at least the first four games on the physically unable to perform list, and rookie quarterback Kurtis Rourke (knee) slated to start the season on the non-football injury list.

Defensive end Yetur Gross-Matos (knee) still has been unable to practice all of camp and could open the season on the physically unable to perform list.

Promising undrafted rookie running back Corey Kiner went down with a “serious” high ankle sprain last week and is a candidate to start the season on short-term injured reserve along with defensive tackle Kevin Givens (pectoral).

The Niners can put two players on IR next week who don't count on the 53-man roster and will be eligible to return after missing at least four weeks.

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ACC more than survived, it thrived. Miami in the College Football Playoff final is proof

MIAMI (AP) — The Power 4 conference that didn't get its champion into the College Football Playoff has a team that tied for second playing in the CFP's national title game.

So much for the demise of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

The league that looked most vulnerable a few short years ago when the latest round of realignment shook up college sports is doing just fine.

The best proof comes out of Miami, a second-place finisher in the ACC that plays Indiana in the title game Monday. It's a turn of events that, at least for now, has left in the rearview mirror the playoff rejection of ACC champion Duke.

“It's been about creativity and innovation on the business side of sports, as well as in the area that has connections with competition,” commissioner Jim Phillips said in explaining what has worked over the past few tumultuous years.

To reset, Duke won a convoluted tiebreaker to emerge from a five-way tie for second and make the ACC title game, then beat Virginia there. But because the Blue Devils had five losses and were unranked, they got passed over by 24th-ranked Sun Belt champion James Madison for the fifth and final automatic-qualifying spot in the 12-team bracket.

It was something of a black eye for a conference that was, for decades, known for basketball, but through expansion moves of its own along with the steady success of either Florida State or Clemson, has cultivated a more-than-respectable resume as a football conference.

In this case, it was Miami — once a big, brash name in college football that hadn't been quite that since it joined the league in 2004 — that came to the rescue.

The furor over the Duke snub was erased when the playoff selection committee gave the Hurricanes the last at-large spot over Notre Dame despite ranking them lower than the Fighting Irish all season.

Miami making the final might have validated that decision.

“I believe the ACC is like 9-4 in postseason play this year, and I think a lot of the reasons we have progressed is (thanks to) some of the teams that we have faced throughout the course of the season in our conference,” Miami coach Mario Cristobal said.

Seven of those nine wins have come against other Power Four teams. The ACC also points to solid scheduling — 35 games against Power Four teams overall this season — and 14 wins against those teams and Notre Dame; both numbers were the highest among the P4 conferences.

Another story line that emerged from Miami's wins is the $20 million playoff share that will all go to the Hurricanes, instead of being divided among all the conference members, which is the traditional way of doing it.

That arrangement strikes to the heart of the ACC's dilemma and how it solved it when Florida State and Clemson sued the conference and threatened to leave, concerned about being left behind as the Big Ten and SEC kept expanding.

Phillips and the lawyers came up with a “success incentives” initiative in which programs would keep all their postseason money. They crafted a similar deal that placed 60% of their media revenue up for grabs, with teams that generate more viewership (think FSU, Clemson, Duke in hoops) getting more of the dough.

“For us, it was an innovative approach of how to handle our revenue,” Phillips said. “You put everyone at the same level, then compete for a portion of those resources. We thought about it, talked about it, and said, listen this is the evolution of college sports.”

Also evolving — the CFP. Under the arrangement in place for the playoff, the Big Ten and SEC have the power to decide what comes next. The ESPN-mandated deadline for that decision is next Friday and the two conferences head into negotiations this weekend with very different views of what should happen.

Phillips and Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark will also be sitting at the negotiating table. Time will tell if sitting there as the commissioner of a league that put a team in this year's final gives Phillips any more say in these conversations.

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