The 49ers might be as healthy as they’ve been all year when they roll into Baltimore on Sunday for a showdown with MVP frontrunner Lamar Jackson and the Ravens.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan on Monday indicated in his press conference that left tackle Joe Staley, defensive end Dee Ford, running back Matt Breida and kicker Robbie Gould were all progressing well and game-time decisions.
That’s a much better prognosis than last week when it became clear early in the week that San Francisco would face the Packers without their four starters.
The 49ers have survived a slew of injuries thanks to some quality depth on their roster, but they’re not going to reach their peak until they’re at full strength. Getting Staley, Ford, Breida and Gould back would put San Francisco as close to peak health as they’ve been all season.
Staley had surgery a finger he dislocated and fractured against the Seahawks in Week 10. Breida aggravated an ankle injury that same game and hasn’t played since. Ford hurt his hamstring the following week against the Cardinals, and Gould injured his quad in practice leading up to the Seattle game.
Gould told Jennifer Lee Chan of NBC Sports Bay Area that he plans to play Sunday.
Ford’s return would come at a good time after Damontre Moore, who replaced Ronald Blair, broke his forearm Sunday night. San Francisco is suddenly thin at defensive end, and putting Ford back in the lineup would be a nice boost for the pass rush.
The offensive tackles also struggled Sunday night. Justin Skule, Staley’s backup, was pulled in the second quarter in favor of Daniel Brunskill. Staley’s return to the lineup to shore up Jimmy Garoppolo’s blind side would help the offense immensely.
Breida’s insertion back into the lineup would give the running game an element of explosiveness its been missing with him banged up. He’s a home run threat every time he touches the ball. While the 49ers’ other backs are talented, Breida is simply a different type of electric that helps power San Francisco’s rushing attack.
The 49ers won’t practice until Wednesday, at which point we’ll get a better idea of how close each of those players are. Shanahan’s update Monday is optimistic though, and that’s as good as they can hope for given how bad the injury situation has been to this point.