The San Francisco 49ers may not have enough healthy bodies to fill out the full 48-man game-day roster Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons, Kyle Shanahan said, a rare roster squeeze driven by an injury wave that has cut deep across the team. It is the kind of problem that changes how a coach plans an entire week, not just a final inactive list.
Shanahan said the situation was unusual enough that he could not recall ever dealing with it in his career, and he called it a unique situation. With so many players unavailable in Week 7, the 49ers have had to think about more than who is out. They have had to think about who can shift around to cover the missing spots.
That is why the search around the Niners score line is really about availability, not offense. Mike Evans was out with a sore Achilles, Nick Bosa was out with a calf injury, and Ricky Pearsall, Deebo Samuel Sr., De’Zhaun Stribling and Demarcus Robinson were all unable to go on Sunday. Marques Sigle, Garret Wallow and Luke Gifford were also ruled out, leaving the 49ers with a depleted roster before the opening snap.
Christian Kirk was in line to make his season debut Sunday, which offered one of the few boosts in a week otherwise defined by losses. But even that did not solve the larger problem. Shanahan said the team had talked about preparing some players to line up outside their usual positions because of the injuries, a sign that the shortage could affect not just who is active, but how the 49ers line up when they are.
The pressure on Bosa captured the wider unease. He had sounded optimistic about a return in Week 5 or Week 6, but Shanahan said that after Bosa worked out, he was sore the next day, and that did not look like a good sign. Shanahan said Bosa is usually accurate about how he feels, which is why the setback surprised the team.
For now, the next step is simple: Sunday against the Falcons will tell the 49ers whether they can get close to 48 available players, or whether the injury list has finally pushed them past a line even Shanahan has never had to manage before.
