Tag: 49ers practice squad

49ers roster move isn’t good news for ailing specialist

The 49ers added a new punter to their practice squad while Mitch Wishnowsky deals with an injury.

The San Francisco 49ers might once again be dealing with a missing specialist.

Punter Mitch Wishnowsky has been dealing with a back injury that flared up during the team’s Week 10 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Head coach Kyle Shanahan on Monday said the team would be evaluating treatment options, and left Wishnowsky’s status for Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks up in the air.

San Francisco’s practice squad tweak before Wednesday’s game wasn’t a good sign for Wishnowsky’s availability.

The 49ers on Tuesday announced the addition of punter Pat O’Donnell to their practice squad. They released veteran defensive tackle T.Y. McGill in a corresponding move to make room on their 16-man practice squad roster.

O’Donnell, 33, was a sixth-round pick of the Chicago Bears in the 2014 draft out of the University of Miami. He played in 145 games across nine years, including eight with the Bears, and one each with the Green Bay Packers and Atlanta Falcons. His stint with the Falcons last year was only on their practice squad.

He’s averaging 45.1 yards per punt across 616 kicks in his career.

Ideally the 49ers wouldn’t need to replace Wishnowsky, who also missed time in the preseason. However, this is something they’ve dealt with on the kicking side where kickers Jake Moody and Matt Wright both suffered injuries that caused them to miss time.

Given the team’s special teams struggles, having to replace reliable players on those units could be a significant issue moving forward.

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49ers re-sign one RB, release another in practice squad shuffle

A familiar RB is back with the 49ers.

The San Francisco 49ers on Tuesday announced a couple of corresponding roster moves before they begin their on-field preparations for Week 11 against the Seattle Seahawks.

Running back Patrick Taylor Jr. re-signed with the 49ers on their practice squad. To make room on the 16-man practice roster, the team released Ke’Shawn Vaughn.

Taylor spent the first nine weeks of the season with the 49ers, but was released Friday before their Week 10 matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to make room for Christian McCaffrey when he returned from IR.

It isn’t a huge surprise to see Taylor back in the team’s facility. He was with the club throughout training camp and the preseason and was fine when called upon. He primarily contributed on special teams, but he did see 21 snaps on offense and posted 25 rushing yards on seven carries.

Taylor will provide internal depth for the 49ers behind McCaffrey, Jordan Mason and Isaac Guerendo on the 53-man roster.

Vaughn also spent significant time with the 49ers in the preseason, but he never broke through to carve out any kind of role. He was released ahead of final cuts and re-signed to the practice squad. Vaughn didn’t appear in a regular-season game.

The 49ers will open their Week 11 practices Wednesday.

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49ers waive veteran S to make room for CB on practice squad

Renardo Green’s injury may have catalyzed a change on the 49ers’ practice squad.

The San Francisco 49ers on Monday announced a couple of roster moves that impacted their practice squad.

Cornerback Nick McCloud was signed to the 16-man practice squad, and veteran safety Adrian Amos was released in a corresponding move.

The addition of McCloud is likely related to an injury suffered by rookie cornerback Renardo Green during the 49ers’ Week 10 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Green injured his toe and didn’t return according to head coach Kyle Shanahan immediately after the game. Shanahan should have additional information about Green’s injury when he speaks with reporters Monday. McCloud provides some internal depth if Green misses time.

The Buffalo Bills signed McCloud as an undrafted rookie after the 2021 draft. He’s spent four seasons in the NFL and played in 40 games for the Bengals and Giants. McCloud has 10 pass breakups, one interception, three forced fumbles and 1.5 sacks in his career.

Amos became expendable for the 49ers when they added veteran safety Tashaun Gipson. Gipson was up over Amos for Sunday’s game in Tampa Bay because rookie Malik Mustapha was working through a calf injury. Mustapha wound up playing the entire game, and having two veteran safeties on the practice squad didn’t make a ton of sense.

The 49ers will begin Week 11 practices Wednesday.

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49ers release DL for 3rd time as part of practice squad tweaks

More practice squad moves for the 49ers:

The San Francisco 49ers on Thursday announced a small tweak to their practice squad.

Defensive end Jonathan Garvin, who spent most of August with the 49ers in the preseason, was released to make room for defensive tackle Nesta Jade Silvera.

This marks the third time Garvin has been let go by the 49ers. They released him as part of final cuts on August 27, but re-signed him to their practice squad shortly after. He was released from the practice squad in mid-September, then re-signed to that unit in early October. Now he’s been released again to become a free agent.

Jade Silvera spent the first portion of this season with the Las Vegas Raiders after they made him a seventh-round pick in last year’s draft. As a rookie he posted two tackles in two games. This season he played in all seven games for Las Vegas and racked up eight tackles.

It makes sense the 49ers would want to add some defensive tackle depth to the practice squad after undrafted rookie DT Evan Anderson was promoted to the active roster. San Francisco has dealt with a slew of injury problems on the DL, so having an additional DT in the building helps insulate them from another injury up front.

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Could son of 49ers legend help team replace Brandon Aiyuk?

The San Francisco 49ers can’t close any doors when maneuvering their roster to make up for Brandon Aiyuk’s season-ending knee injury.

Replacing wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk quickly shot up the San Francisco 49ers’ list of priorities when the 2023 All-Pro went down with a season-ending knee injury in Week 7.

Aiyuk’s injury, which came just over two weeks before the NFL’s Nov. 5 trade deadline, may push San Francisco into action to acquire a WR on the trade market. There are a handful of options that make sense if that’s the route they want to take.

If they don’t take that route, there’s an intriguing name in the building who could make his way to the roster: undrafted rookie WR Terique Owens, who is the son of Pro Football Hall of Famer and 49ers legend Terrell Owens.

While the trade route seems to be the most logical one if the team is looking for a direct replacement for Aiyuk, head coach Kyle Shanahan on Monday in a conference call told reporters the team will explore the trade market without putting all their eggs in that basket.

“Well, it makes you look into everything,” Shanahan said of Aiyuk’s injury. “We try to look into everything regardless. Obviously with more issues that came up yesterday, you still want to look into everything, but it has to do with what options are out there with stuff that we can pull off that doesn’t totally hurt us, that helps us now and doesn’t hurt us for the future. There’s lots of decisions that go into it. So, we’ll look into everything, but a lot of times that’s just kind of living in hope.”

If a trade doesn’t materialize, the 49ers are likely to simply push Jauan Jennings into a more prominent role while backfilling the WR3 snaps with rookies Ricky Pearsall and Jacob Cowing, and veterans Chris Conley and Ronnie Bell.

They may want to keep another WR on the roster for depth purposes even if they don’t need to replace Aiyuk on a snap-to-snap basis. And that’s where Owens emerges as an internal option. Shanahan said without a trade, they’ll rely on who they have in the building.

“Those answers aren’t always out there,” Shanahan said. “You’ve got to be ready to get people better in your building and deal with what you’ve got in your building. And if you ever find something that makes sense, we will never hesitate on it but it’s not always available like you hope it is.”

Owens is one of two wide receivers on the practice squad, along with veteran and former 49ers fifth-round pick Trent Taylor. Taylor has primarily been a punt returner over the last few seasons, which may open the door for Owens to step in and contribute on more special teams units.

There’s no guarantee either Taylor or Owens are promoted from the practice squad. San Francisco, when healthy, is still working with six receivers who have roles in the offense and on special teams. The likelihood a practice squad receiver is anything more than a special teams contributor is something south of miniscule.

With injuries to Conley, Jennings and Samuel entering Week 8, however, there’s a chance we could see Owens elevated from the practice squad when the 49ers host the Cowboys on Sunday Night Football.

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49ers practice squad raided by Giants after bad injury news for OL

The 49ers lost some internal OL depth.

The New York Giants are raiding the San Francisco 49ers practice squad for offensive line help after news came down that starting left tackle Andrew Thomas would miss the rest of the year with a foot injury.

According to ESPN’s Jordan Raanan, Giants head coach Brian Daboll told reporters the team is signing veteran OL Chris Hubbard off the 49ers’ practice squad.

Hubbard spent training camp and the preseason with the 49ers on the recommendation of former 49ers offensive lineman Daniel Brunskill, who was teammates with Hubbard last year in Tennessee.

While there appeared to be some chance Hubbard would compete for the starting right tackle job after holding down that spot for the Titans in 2023, the veteran OL never made a real push for that job.

He wound up getting cut and returning to the practice squad in mid-September as internal OL depth for the 49ers. His exit will leave San Francisco short on experience on their practice squad.

Without Hubbard, Isaac Alarcon and undrafted rookie Drake Nugent are the only two internal depth options for San Francisco on the offensive front. Neither player has played a snap in the NFL.

With an open practice squad spot the 49ers could opt to add another offensive lineman. Chances are they’ll wait until after Week 7 to see what their injury situation looks like to make another move. They may also wait until their Week 9 bye to do anything major when they can have time off to assess where their roster stands.

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Another injury forces 49ers to add another kicker

The 49ers are signing yet another kicker after another injury on a kickoff.

The San Francisco 49ers may need a third kicker in as many weeks after Jake Moody was hurt on a kickoff against the Cardinals in Week 5, and his replacement Matthew Wright was hurt on a kickoff against the Seahawks in Week 6.

Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported the 49ers are adding former Packers kicker Anders Carlson to their practice squad.

Wright suffered a shoulder injury on the Seahawks final kick return Thursday night. The kicker stepped in to try and knock the kick returner out of bounds and dislocated his shoulder. Wright’s shoulder did pop back in according to head coach Kyle Shanahan and there’s a chance he could play in Week 7 against the Kansas City Chiefs.

The chance Wright plays is why Carlson will join the 49ers’ practice squad instead of their active roster. Wright drilled all three of his field goal attempts and all three extra points in Seattle, so it stands to reason the club would want to move forward with him if possible.

Carlson spent last season with the Packers where he connected on 27 of 33 field goal attempts and 34 of 39 extra points. He was a perfect 20-for-20 on field goals inside of 40 yards, and just 7-of-13 on kicks beyond that range. His longest make came from 53 yards out.

There’s no word on a corresponding practice squad move. Matt Barrows of the Athletic reported neither Wright nor Moody were seen at Monday’s bonus practice.

The 49ers host the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday at Levi’s Stadium.

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49ers re-sign son of franchise legend to practice squad

The 49ers made a handful of practice squad moves and opened the practice window for DL Kalia Davis.

The San Francisco 49ers on Wednesday announced a handful of additions to their practice squad before their Week 5 preparations began.

Among those additions was wide receiver Terique Owens, whose father is 49ers legend Terrell Owens. Terique was with the 49ers during training camp and put together enough good days to be intriguing, but ultimately didn’t make the team.

He’s now back on the practice squad where he’ll get a chance to develop in the 49ers offense and perhaps carve out some kind of role long-term. He has good size and flashed enough of a skill set as a receiver to earn a trip back to Santa Clara.

In 26 games at Missouri State, Owens posted 46 receptions for 765 yards and four touchdowns.

The 49ers also added defensive end Jonathan Garvin. He was also with the team during training camp and the preseason, but he lost out in a crowded defensive end room.

In a corresponding move the 49ers released defensive lineman Shakel Brown from the practice squad. He was added ahead of last week with a chance to earn a game day elevation. Brown became expendable because the 49ers also opened the practice window for defensive tackle Kalia Davis.

Davis was injured in the preseason opener against the Tennessee Titans and required surgery on his knee. His initial prognosis said he’d miss half the season, but now it sounds like he may be able to return and provide some much-needed depth on the defensive interior as soon as Week 5 vs. the Arizona Cardinals.

The 49ers have 21 days to officially activate Davis or he’ll revert to season-ending IR.

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49ers add familiar face on defensive line to practice squad

The 49ers added a player to their practice squad as the hunt for a Javon Hargrave replacement begins.

The San Francisco 49ers filled the empty spot on their practice squad on Wednesday.

Defensive lineman Shakel Brown is returning to San Francisco to join their practice squad a day after the club released veteran safety Tracy Walker III.

Brown was with the 49ers in camp and had a nice preseason. His return gives the team additional internal depth to help replace defensive tackle Javon Hargrave who is out for the season following a partial triceps tear in Week 3.

San Francisco added Brown in the offseason and he spent time with them in training camp and the preseason. He played 72 snaps across the 49ers’ three preseason contests. Brown was let go at final cuts.

He’s also been with the Tennessee Titans and has yet to make his NFL debut.

This signing gives the 49ers a trio of interior defensive linemen on their practice squad. Brown joins veteran T.Y. McGill and undrafted rookie Evan Anderson as potential Hargrave replacements.

It’ll be interesting to see how the 49ers manage that group. They may permanently elevate a player, but they could opt to rotate through them with standard practice squad elevations to see which player fits best on the defensive front.

Figuring out how to fill the void left by Hargrave is now atop the 49ers’ to-do list on defense, and now they have another internal option.

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49ers release veteran safety from practice squad

After six seasons with the Lions, Tracy Walker III was added to the 49ers practice squad before the start of the regular-season.

Before the San Francisco 49ers welcome in the New England Patriots on Sunday for a Week 4 contest, the team made a change to their practice squad. On Tuesday, the 49ers announced they’ve released defensive back Tracy Walker III from the practice squad.

After spending six seasons with the Detroit Lions, the veteran safety joined the 49ers during the 2024 offseason. Before the start of the regular-season, the 49ers added Walker III to the practice squad.

Via @49ers on Twitter:

With Talonia Hufanga back healthy, the 49ers’ depth chart at safety is packed with players like Ji’Ayir Brown, rookie Malik Mustapha and special teams ace George Odum.

Following Walker III’s release, the 49ers will have an opening on their practice squad.

This post originally appeared on Niners Wire! Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!

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