49ers notebook: Team will finish the season in Arizona; Kittle won’t face Cowboys
The 49ers won’t be coming back to their Santa Clara headquarters to finish out the regular season. As expected, the team confirmed Friday it will stay in Arizona for the remainder of the regular season as Santa Clara County extended its COVID-19 restrictions that ban contact sports through Jan. 8.
That means the Jan. 3 regular season finale against the Seattle Seahawks will be the third and likely final home game for the 49ers played at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz. The team lost its previous two contests in there against the Buffalo Bills and Washington Football Team the last two weeks.
The news didn’t come as a surprise to head coach Kyle Shanahan, who said the team expected to play all their remaining home games in the desert after the county announced the restrictions Nov. 28, while the 49ers were getting ready to fly to play the Los Angeles Rams a day later.
“That didn’t change anything. The day we were made to leave, we pretty much assumed that would happen,” Shanahan said Friday via Zoom. “That’s why we made the decision early, we weren’t going to wait. We knew it was inevitable.”
Shanahan at the outset said the plan was to allow for players to bring their families to Arizona for Christmas next week. Shanahan and other members of the organization are having their family members travel to Arizona this weekend to begin COVID-19 testing protocols, allowing them to be reunited Sunday night after the team arrives back from Sunday afternoon’s road game against the Dallas Cowboys.
Kittle ruled out for Sunday
The 49ers won’t have star tight end George Kittle available for Sunday’s game after he had his 21-day practice window opened this week, Shanahan confirmed.
Kittle remains on injured reserve after breaking the cuboid bone in his foot during the Nov. 1 loss to the Seattle Seahawks. The plan was to get him on the practice field to gauge his recovery.
There’s a chance Kittle gets ramped up next week before the game against the Arizona Cardinals next Saturday, though it’s likely the 49ers would shut Kittle down for the remainder of the season if they lose to the Cowboys and get formally eliminated from playoff contention. Shanahan has said the team won’t risk Kittle’s long-term health to get him back on the field this season.
Shanahan on KNBR radio Friday morning said Kittle’s work on the practice field was limited to the scout team.
“I told our scout team coaches that they finally got our tight ends going on scout team,” Shanahan said on the Murph & Mac Show. “It was a little different watching him out there. But he was fresh and going and he looks good. But it’s all about what the doctors say and how he goes.”
The 49ers had walk-through style practices on Wednesday and Friday with one full speed practice on Thursday. Shanahan said the training staff will monitor Kittle over the weekend to see if he’s sore and how to proceed from there.
“Because that’s the stuff you’re trying to debate, whether anything’s lingering and what the safety issues would be if you put him back out there,” he said.
Skule to guard?
The 49ers will be down to their fourth-string option at right guard on Sunday and it appears “swing” tackle Justin Skule will be thrust into that role.
That’s because rookie Colton McKivitz was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list this week while Tom Compton remains on injured reserve after a string of concussions. Daniel Brunskill opened the season at right guard but has been forced to play center the last five games due to injuries to Ben Garland (calf) and Hroniss Grasu (knee), who were filling in for the injured Weston Richburg, who hasn’t played this season after tearing his patellar tendon last December in New Orleans.
Shanahan suggested Skule was the likely candidate for Sunday because he’s one of the few remaining available bodies along the offensive line that’s been with the team since the start of training camp. The other options are Dakoda Shepley, Tony Bergstrom, Aaron Neary and Isaiah Williams, who have all been added sine the regular season began.
Skule has never played guard, save for a week during training camp when the 49ers were experimenting with moving him around. He was a four-year starter at tackle with Vanderbilt before San Francisco made him a sixth-round pick in the 2019 draft.
“(We’re) throwing him in there this week, he’s got two practices, he knows what to do, looked good in practice and (we) feel good to go with him,” Shanahan said on KNBR. “Hope we don’t have any more things come up because it’s hard to get guys in this time of year because they got to quarantine for six days, got to go through all the testing, so you can’t just sign guys right away.”
▪ For the second straight week, cornerbacks Emmanuel Moseley (hamstring) and K’Waun Williams (high ankle sprain) are listed as questionable for Sunday’s game. Both were listed as full participants in Friday’s practice after being limited throughout the week.
Same for linebacker Fred Warner (stinger), who is also listed as questionable. Warner hasn’t missed a start in his three NFL seasons.
▪ The only other active players ruled out were Grasu (knee) and receiver Deebo Samuel (hamstring), who isn’t expected to play again this season.
▪ Running back Raheem Mostert (ankle) and defensive tackle D.J. Jones (ankle) were full participants in Friday’s practice and will play on Sunday, Shanahan said.
▪ For the Cowboys, cornerback Deante Burton (shoulder) was the team’s only active player ruled out on Friday.
Questionable: running back Ezekiel Elliott (calf), former 49ers cornerback Rashard Robinson (knee) and safety Xavier Woods (groin).
This story was originally published December 18, 2020 at 2:37 PM.
