The NFL is expected to officially eliminate two preseason games for the 2020 season according to ESPN’s Kevin Seifert. It’s a move aimed at helping teams make up for lost offseason practice time before preseason games kick off.
Seifert also reported the league would eliminate the first and fourth preseason contests. If that’s the case, San Francisco would lose its August 15 game against the Broncos in Denver, and its September 3 game at home vs. the Chargers.
Under the truncated preseason format, the 49ers would open their preseason slate at home against the Raiders on Friday, August 21. They’d travel to Chicago eight days later to face the Bears. Their regular season schedule would open two weeks later on September 13 when they host the Arizona Cardinals.
49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said last year that two preseason games would be the ideal format, so at least for 2020 he’ll get his wish. San Francisco kept a lot of roster continuity going into this season so the preseason tuneups won’t be as valuable as they are for other teams with major changes to the roster or coaching staff.
The elimination of preseason contests is NFL’s first alteration to its game schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The league also cancelled its in-person draft and terminated in-person offseason activities for teams, choosing instead to limit clubs to online sessions.
All indications are that the league intends to open on schedule in September despite taking out the pair of exhibition games. The 49ers are set to open training camp on July 27, but even that’s up in the air while California continues grappling with the COVID-19 outbreak.