Can the 49ers improve in the home stretch while COVID-19 becomes more prevalent?
The 4-6 San Francisco 49ers have a decreasingly slim shot at the playoffs and might be focused more on figuring out who will stick with the team in 2021 over the final six weeks of the regular season.
But one clear obstacle remains that has nothing to do with football.
Yes, the COVID-19 pandemic that continues to rock the country impacted the 49ers more this Thanksgiving week than any other point in the season. The team as of Wednesday had seven players on the reserve/COVID-19 list after removing two, defensive lineman Arik Armstead and reserve center Hroniss Grasu. And some on the list might not be available to play in Sunday’s road game against the Los Angeles Rams.
“We’ve got a number of guys out who probably won’t be back for the game,” head coach Kyle Shanahan said Wednesday. “We’ll see how that goes.”
The list as of Wednesday included star left tackle Trent Williams, budding rookie receiver Brandon Aiyuk, rookie first-round pick Javon Kinlaw, defensive tackle D.J. Jones, reserve linebacker Joe Walker and recently acquired pass rusher Jordan Willis. The nine players on the list coming out of the bye was the most for the team this season.
Williams told ESPN this week he tested positive for the virus, which is worrisome because he survived a cancer scare earlier in his career he revealed in 2019. He had a cancerous tumor on his head, which played a role in his decision to sit out the entire 2019 season while at odds with Washington’s training staff before getting traded to San Francisco last spring.
Williams could be one of the players Shanahan mentioned that would be unable to play Sunday against the Rams, leaving the 49ers without another key player in a season that’s been entirely derailed by injuries to stars, including tight end George Kittle, defensive end Nick Bosa, quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, cornerback Richard Sherman and others. Second-year pro Justin Skule would likely replace Williams, as he did for the Nov. 5 game against the Packers when Williams was on the list as a close contact to receiver Kendrick Bourne, who reportedly received a false positive test result.
Sherman, Mostert could return
While some players might be out because of the COVID-19 list, San Francisco has a chance at getting a handful of key players back. Sherman’s practice window has been open since Nov. 9 after not playing since Week 1 because of a lingering calf issue. Running back Raheem Mostert, who has evolved into one of the most valuable players on offense, also returned to practice this week following a four-game absence with a high-ankle sprain. Receiver Deebo Samuel (hamstring strain) and running backs Jeff Wilson Jr. (high ankle sprain) and Tevin Coleman (knee sprain) were also back on the practice field this week.
Getting those play-makers back would give San Francisco a noticeable boost under normal circumstances. But that might be muted while others miss time while on the COVID-19 list. It plays along with the theme shadowing the 49ers all season of missing key players at key times.
“This entire year has been just kind of trying to overcome adversity in all facets,” said linebacker Fred Warner, who spent a week on the COVID-19 list just before the regular season opener in September. “It’s stuff that you can’t really control. And when guys are back, that’s obviously going to help our team, but you got to focus on who we have available and making sure the guys we do have are continuing to get better and not try to put so much pressure on, ‘oh, I hope that we got such and such back.’ Guys who have been here, you got to continue to grow in your game.”
The injuries have made it more difficult for players to improve ahead of a crucial offseason. The 49ers want to keep their championship window open but key roster-building decisions remain. Williams, for example, is a free agent San Francisco would like to retain to anchor the left side of the offensive line for the foreseeable future.
The team has already been unable to draw any clear-cut conclusions about Garoppolo because of his injuries, on top of the constant shuffling of receivers and running backs around him.
Shanahan before the bye said, “If you’re not improving, you’re on your way out.” But now, while evaluating his players and how he wants to construct the roster for 2021, he’s also been forced to navigate the pandemic.
Shanahan was asked how he wants to players to improve over the home stretch of the regular season amid the unique circumstances.
“Getting better means playing better than you did the week before, playing better than how you did at the beginning of the year,” he said. “Guys can come into training camp one way and they start off the year one way. Some guys start their best at the beginning and finish bad. Some guys start bad at the beginning and finish good.
“My goal is that everyone keeps getting better, regardless of the situation. I think we’ve got a number of guys who can do it who have room to grow. I think that there’s been a bunch of guys who got a lot of opportunities this year who didn’t necessarily expect it going into the year and they need to take advantage of this playing time that, one, to help our team this year and to help themselves and our team going forward in the next year.”
49ers’ pending free agents
There are a slew of pending free agents on that list that could start making their cases for next year on Sunday against a Rams team that beat the Seattle Seahawks and Tampa Bay Buccaneers in their last two games. Garoppolo’s backup, Nick Mullens, is a restricted free agent in the spring. Cornerback Jason Verrett is having a Pro Bowl-caliber season and could play opposite Sherman for the first time. A good finish could mean a life-changing payday come the spring.
Running back Jerick McKinnon has an uncertain future and has averaged just 3.8 yards per carry while being the only running back to play in each game this season.
In fact, the only skill position players to appear in all 10 games this season are McKinnon, fullback Kyle Juszczyk, receiver Trent Taylor and backup tight end Ross Dwelley. Of that group, only Juszczyk is a usual starter.
And the unrelenting pandemic isn’t helping.
