Week 2 of the preseason was a little bit of a curveball for the San Francisco 49ers and New Orleans Saints.
The two clubs were supposed to have three days of joint practices in Irvine, Calif. before facing off Sunday evening at Levi’s Stadium. The injury bug bit the 49ers so bad that they weren’t going to have enough players to properly execute a joint practice, so they cancelled those practices.
By cancelling those sessions, the 49ers changed their preseason calculus a bit. Typically they use the joint practices as a de facto game environment for the starters, then the reserves play in the preseason game.
Without the joint practices, the 49ers will now play their starters some against the Saints according to head coach Kyle Shanahan. That’s good news for FOX, which will be carrying the game nationally. It’s also good news for 49ers fans hoping to see more of what the team might actually look like when they line up for Week 1.
There will still be notable absences with left tackle Trent Williams and wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk both sitting out while they await new contracts, but for the most part it should more closely resemble the 49ers than the team that took the field to open the preseason opener in Tennessee.
Here’s game information and how to watch/listen to Week 2 of the preseason:
Kickoff: 5:00pm Pacific Time
Location: Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara, Calif.
TV: FOX
Free streaming: FuboTV
Radio: KGO 810 AM
The 49ers also stream the game on their app, but it’s only available for viewers in the Bay Area market.
NFL+ also offers a paid streaming option.
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