No tough decisions in 49ers inactives vs. Cardinals

The 49ers have so many injuries that they didn’t have any choices with their list of inactives.

The 49ers coaching staff didn’t have any tough decisions when it came to their seven inactive players Sunday.

Here’s the list officially submitted by the team prior to Sunday’s game:

OT Joe Staley
QB CJ Beathard
TE George Kittle
RB Matt Breida
K Robbie Gould
LB Azeez Al-Shaair
DT DJ Jones

Really the list was all but confirmed late Saturday morning when the 49ers announced Al-Shaair was downgraded to ‘out’ with a concussion. He joined Staley and Jones as the three players officially out. With Beathard a regular inactive as the third quarterback, there were only three inactive spots left.

Those three spots were the only question marks, and they were officially filled Sunday with Kittle, Breida and Gould – the three players the 49ers labeled ‘doubtful’ leading up to the game.

One silver lining is the absence of Ahkello Witherspoon’s name on the inactive list for the first time since Week 5. He sprained his foot in the Week 3 win over the Steelers and hasn’t played since. Witherspoon was supposed to be back Monday vs. Seattle, but had a setback and was forced to delay his return date.

 

George Kittle officially inactive for 49ers vs. Seahawks

The 49ers won’t have their star tight end in their biggest game of the year.

The 49ers will officially be without their star tight end Monday night against the Seahawks. Tight end George Kittle has officially been ruled out after being given a ‘doubtful’ designation Saturday. He joins kicker Robbie Gould and cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon among the inactive starters for San Francisco.

Here’s the full list of inactives for the 49ers:

TE George Kittle
OL Justin Skule
RB Jeff Wilson Jr.
QB C.J. Beathard
DT Jullian Taylor
CB Ahkello Witherspoon
K Robbie Gould

The silver lining in this group is that it doesn’t include Joe Staley, Mike McGlinchey or Kyle Juszczyk. The two starting tackles and starting fullback were instrumental in the 49ers’ dominance on the ground early in the year.

Staley broke his fibula in Week 2, McGlinchey hurt his knee and needed arthroscopic surgery after Week 5, and Juszczyk sprained his MCL in Week 5.

Witherspoon was ‘100 percent healthy’ according to a report from NBC Sports’ Jennifer Lee Chan, but he’s still inactive after being limited in practice all week with foot and quad injuries. He sprained his foot in Week 3, then suffered a setback just as he was getting ready to return.

Gould getting ruled out isn’t a huge surprise. San Francisco braced for that by adding kicker Chase McLaughlin on Wednesday after Gould suffered a quad injury during Tuesday’s bonus practice.

San Francisco survived without their tackles and fullback on offense, now they have to devise a way to win without their most impactful player on that side of the ball.

Here are the Seahawks inactives: