49ers Notebook: Hurd injury complicates receiver battle, Wilson Jr. gets heavy workload
The 49ers have a number of difficult decisions ahead of final cuts on Saturday at 1 p.m.
Complicating those choices are injuries to players expected to have key roles during the regular season.
Among them is rookie receiver Jalen Hurd, who could miss at least the first week after suffering a back injury earlier this month during joint practices with the Broncos that was initially described as back stiffness.
Apparently, it’s gotten worse.
“It’s a little more serious than we thought,” Kyle Shanahan said after Thursday’s preseason finale against the Chargers. “We still don’t know for sure. We thought we would have a better chance at Tampa, and now that’s not looking as good.”
Back injuries are never easy to deal with. The team doesn’t have to look far for an example. Slot receiver Trent Taylor, who’s expected to miss multiple games following foot surgery, dealt with a back issue throughout all last season that zapped his productivity. The 49ers are hoping to avoid a similar scenario with Hurd after drafting him in Round 3 to add much-needed size and physicality to the receiving corps.
Neither Hurd nor Taylor is expected to go on injured reserve, which means their injuries won’t open up roster spots elsewhere. Shanahan said the team is trying to decide whether to keep six or seven receivers when the roster is trimmed from 90 to 53. Missing two receivers in the first game in Tampa Bay makes it likely the team keeps five others and seven total.
After Thursday’s game, it appears Kendrick Bourne might be the odd man out despite catching a touchdown from C.J. Beathard before halftime. Bourne played well into the second half while Jordan Matthews and Richie James Jr. played sparingly before the break. The 49ers sat Dante Pettis, Marquise Goodwin, Taylor and Hurd, while Matthews and rookie Deebo Samuel got the start.
“It’s still up in the air, whether we’re going to go six, whether we’re going to go seven (receivers),” Shanahan said. “It’s something we’ll be looking into hard over the next 48 hours.”
Bourne continued his roller coaster August with another drop before making a touchdown catch. He had a similar sequence during the second exhibition game in Denver. Though Shanahan said he wasn’t concerned about Bourne’s hands.
“I do consider Bourne having some of the better hands on our team,” Shanahan said. “So that’s definitely (one) he should’ve had and hurt a drive. ... He’s earned a little bit more with that in terms of how good his hands are.”
It remains to be seen if Bourne’s two-plus years of experience with San Francisco is enough to keep him around through the weekend and into the regular season. He led San Francisco’s pass catchers with 21 receiving yards, all coming on his diving touchdown.
Wilson gets unexpected workload
Running back Jeff Wilson Jr. entered Thursday squarely on the roster bubble given the uncertain status of Jerick McKinnon, who’s had three setbacks this summer while trying to return from an ACL tear.
Wilson finished Thursday night’s 27-24 defeat with 100 yards on 20 carries, including a 41-yard touchdown run in the first quarter that got San Francisco on the board. He wasn’t expecting to get that many touches in the preseason finale, which typically doesn’t bode well for a player’s chances at making the cut.
“It was just like, ‘play ball,’” Wilson said. “If you’re in, then you’re in. If you can run, then you run.”
Shanahan said Wilson’s workload wasn’t worth reading into and the game plan was to stick to the rushing game. The 49ers had 39 rushing attempts to 26 passes. They had 162 yards and averaged 4.2 yards per carry.
“You want to run the ball a lot in this last game,” Shanahan said. “When you block well and you run hard, you usually get more carries. So that was a credit to (Wilson).”
Keeping seven receivers could make it hard to keep a fourth halfback behind roster favorites Tevin Coleman, Matt Breida and Raheem Mostert. Wilson is practice squad-eligible after rushing for 266 yards on 66 carries last season. He led the 49ers in rushing yards (178) and carries (41) this preseason.
▪ Shanahan didn’t have much new to say about McKinnon after general manager John Lynch said on KNBR Wednesday McKinnon suffered a setback with his knee during practice this week.
“I can’t get into the exact details of it,” Shanahan said, “but it wasn’t the type of two days we were hoping for for him. ... We’re looking into a number of things here over these two days and we’ll have to make a decision on that Saturday.”
The setback makes McKinnon an injured reserve candidate. The 49ers could shut him down for the season by placing him on injured reserve before Saturday. Or they could try giving him time to come back by placing on him on the initial 53-man roster.
At that point, they could move him to injured reserve and give him the return designation which would allow him to come back Week 9 against the Arizona Cardinals.
▪ Guard Joshua Garnett made his preseason debut and played most of the game at right guard. He missed most of training camp and the past three games with a dislocated finger on his right hand.
Garnett, while likely the most talented of San Francisco’s backups along the offensive line, has struggled with injuries and played in just 22 games over the past three seasons.
“From what I saw, I thought he played well,” said Shanahan. ”I know he had a lot of energy, I know he was excited to play. ... I thought he did a good job and he ended up getting cramps there towards the end, but when he was in, I thought he played well.”
Garnett is likely on the roster bubble competing with Daniel Brunskill and Najee Toran for a backup guard spot behind Mike Person and Laken Tomlinson.
▪ Tight end Ross Dwelley didn’t suit up Thursday and Shanahan said afterwards it wasn’t because of injury.
“He’s shown us enough,” Shanahan said.
That indicates Dwelley is a favorite to make the team. Rookie sixth-round pick Kaden Smith had one catch for 6 yards and blocking tight end Levin Toilolo played most of the first half but didn’t make a reception.
▪ The 49ers came out of the game mostly injury-free, save for safety Adrian Colbert, who aggravated a hamstring injury in the second half. Colbert had been dealing with the injury since the Broncos game and appears to be on the roster bubble. San Francisco expects Jimmie Ward to start at free safety where he would be backed up by Tarvarius Moore.
San Francisco started Marcell Harris and Antone Exum Jr. on Thursday and they struggled throughout, allowing four straight scoring drives to the Chargers and third-string quarterback Cardale Jones.
This story was originally published August 30, 2019 at 12:07 AM.