The 49ers’ injury situation hasn’t improved much with just over two weeks left before the season opener. After a day off Monday, San Francisco had eight players out of Tuesday’s practice, including Nick Bosa, Dee Ford, Brandon Aiyuk, Ben Garland, Raheem Mostert, K’Waun Williams, Ross Reynolds and Ross Dwelley.
Garland, Williams, Reynolds and Dwelley were all expected to miss time. Garland hurt his ankle last week, Williams is nursing a calf injury, Reynolds was carted off with a leg injury last week, and Dwelley is dealing with an ailment in his foot. There’s a good chance we don’t see them again at least until the regular season begins.
Mostert is not hurt. Head coach Kyle Shanahan said the running back was just given a day off.
The trio of Bosa, Ford and Aiyuk were all out as they work through various injuries.
Bosa is week-to-week with a muscle strain and will likely be done for training camp. Aiyuk is also week-to-week with what Shanahan called a “mild strain” in his left hamstring. He left Sunday’s practice early after hurting himself while running a deep route. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Aiyuk shut down for the duration of camp as well.
Ford got banged up in a one-on-one drill Sunday and exited the session early. He has a calf issue that will make him day-to-day.
While the list of injured 49ers is growing, there’s some good news from Tuesday as well. First — it doesn’t sound like any of the new injuries to Bosa, Ford and Aiyuk are extremely serious. All three of them are going to be key players for San Francisco, so anything that would push them to miss significant time would be a a huge blow for the team. There’s no official word on timetables yet, but the door for a Week 1 return is open.
The other piece of good news is that defensive tackle DJ Jones cleared concussion protocol and was back in practice Tuesday. Tight end Jordan Reed also debuted in a padded practice and played well. Jones is in line to start at nose tackle, while Reed is battling for a roster spot as a secondary receiving threat at tight end to go next to George Kittle.
Camp injuries are never good, but the team would rather have them in August than in September or October and beyond.