With training camp, the preseason, and roster cuts behind them, the San Francisco 49ers now have their full attention on the regular season. The Niners will head to Australia for their Week 1 game against the Los Angeles Rams.
Nonetheless, the question will be whether they have Nick Bosa and/or George Kittle for this NFC West matchup overseas. On Aug. 31, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan shared an update on his two stars ahead of the Sept. 10 game against the Rams.
“We’re going to get them out there in these three days and hope it goes well,” Shanahan told reporters. “… With three days before we go, we’re balancing it out with both of them. We don’t want them to go three days in a row, so we’re going to do a little on some of these days and more on one.
“Both of them are on a little different schedule with the three. It’s a little different now. We usually have these three practices, then we get three days off, and then we kind of settle everything that bonus Monday of the week.
“We already had our three days off because of our travel deal. And now we kind of have these three bonus practices. Then we’ll get on our plane and go, and our Monday, where we kind of settle everything, will be our Saturday in Australia.”
Kyle Shanahan Gives More Details on George Kittle Situation
Kittle is coming off of tearing his Achilles last season in the playoff win against the Philadelphia Eagles. Meanwhile, Bosa is coming off a torn ACL last season and is dealing with tendinitis. Nonetheless, Kittle is the one with the biggest question mark.
Shanahan went into further detail regarding Kittle and whether they might consider leaving the veteran tight end behind if he’s not ready to go.
“I think if we didn’t think he was going to play, though, and it was looking that way, I think it’d be much nicer to make that decision before we go instead of having to go through all that,” Shanahan added.
“It’s also a long time that we’re out there, so to be away from the team for a week, not just for camaraderie or anything, but just the training staff and things like that, and being away from meetings is also a big deal, too. Hopefully, these three days that we have, these three practices, will go the right way and make it an easy decision to get him on the plane.”
49ers Urged to Take Cautious Approach With George Kittle
While Kittle is ahead of schedule and looks like a real possibility to play Week 1, Grant Cohn of 49ers on SI believes that the Niners should take the cautious approach.
“Kittle’s recovery won’t be linear,” Cohn wrote in an Aug. 29 article. “Some days, he’ll feel better than others. And he’s way ahead of schedule as is. The 49ers should treat him with an abundance of caution. He’s too important in December and January to risk his season in early September when he’s less than a year removed from an Achilles tear.
“No matter how good Kittle says he feels, the 49ers should leave him home for the season opener and play the Rams in Australia without him. If they lose, that would be better than losing Kittle to a serious setback that could knock him out for months, if not longer.”
49ers Issue Notable Week 1 Update on Nick Bosa, George Kittle