Kyle Shanahan said the San Francisco 49ers may not even be able to reach the maximum 48 players for Sunday’s game against the Atlanta Falcons, a rare roster problem that came as the team traveled to Atlanta undefeated. The 49ers were already without Mike Evans, Nick Bosa, Ricky Pearsall, Deebo Samuel Sr., De’Zhaun Stribling, Demarcus Robinson, Marques Sigle, Garret Wallow and Luke Gifford.
That is why the 49ers injury report drew so much attention going into Week 7. Christian Kirk was in line to make his season debut, and his return from injured reserve would give San Francisco a lift, but Shanahan said he did not expect practice-squad elevations to be enough to solve the shortage on their own.
Shanahan said the team had talked about preparing some players to line up outside their usual spots because of the injuries, a sign of how thin the roster had become for a game that should have been straightforward on paper. Injuries have been a weekly storyline for the 49ers in recent seasons, but this one stood out because the shortage went beyond who was available and reached the number of bodies the team could dress.
The coach also said the situation was a first in his career. He said he did not think it had ever happened before, and called it a unique situation. That made the question bigger than Sunday’s matchup: whether San Francisco could patch together a full game-day roster without stretching the roster rules to the limit.
There was also the matter of Bosa, who had recently sounded upbeat about a return for Week 5 or Week 6. Shanahan said Bosa worked out after saying he might be back, then felt a little sore the next day, and that the soreness was not a good sign before a game on turf. The coach said Bosa was probably too optimistic, though he added that the edge rusher usually knows his body well. For a team already missing so many pieces, that kind of timing mattered. The 49ers were in Atlanta on Sunday with a chance to stay unbeaten, but the more immediate test was simply getting enough healthy players onto the field.
