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San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan was on the Murph and Mac Show on KNBR to discuss injuries to Jimmy Garoppolo and George Kittle and how the Niners are making a change to the right guard. Let’s start with the offensive line.
Tom Compton, the original backup right guard, went to the reserve injured after suffering two concussions in the span of three weeks. So Compton is not a safe guard option. Fifth-round rookie pick Colton McKivitz, who filled in and performed as well as you could ask for a Day 3 pick, was placed on the Reserve / COVID-19 roster this week, meaning he will also miss the Sunday competition. .
The 49ers promoted OL Tony Bergstrom on December 9, ahead of Washington. It’s an option, but Bergstrom probably isn’t familiar enough with the playbook for live gaming reps. Dakoda Shepley was with the team towards the end of training camp. The former CFL Rookie of the Year was another contender. Shanahan has decided neither of them are up to the game and goes on with team backup offensive tackle Justin Skule:
“So we have Skule left, who has played, and he’s been in tackling, but he’ll end up having custody work this week. It was the only time he had been there before in a few practices. But, throw it in there this week. He had two training sessions. He knows what to do. I looked good in training and felt good to accompany him.
Hroniss Grasu did not train with a knee injury on Thursday. Generally speaking, if you don’t practice on Thursday, Shanahan won’t play you on Sunday. Instead of bringing Brunskill back to the right guard, Skule takes the start.
Fortunately for the Niners and Skule, Dallas hasn’t generated much pressure this season overall. The top three defensive tackles playing have combined for three sacks and six hits for QB this season. Still, seeing how Skule has only a few practices under his belt won’t give fans much confidence in a position that has been inconsistent at best all season.
Shanahan also provided updates for George Kittle and Jimmy Garoppolo. Kittle practiced Wednesday and Thursday. He’s not going to play on Sunday after being out for a month and a half and only training for two days, but don’t stop Kittle from playing for the rest of the season. This is what Shanahan said:
“His appearance this week gives him a chance over the next two weeks. He was fresh and outgoing, and he looks good, but you know it all depends on what the doctors say after he leaves. He has two days this week and how he feels this weekend the pain and stuff like that. Because that’s it, you are trying to debate whether there is something lingering and what are the security issues that would bring him back there.
The question the 49ers should be asking themselves is, what’s the payoff for playing Kittle? I realize that athletes are wired differently, and Kittle may be at the top of this list, but the risk is obvious, and the payoff is not.
Shanahan had a different tone when discussing Garoppolo, and it wasn’t so optimistic:
“No new news. I mean, what I said earlier in the week, we were hoping all the time to give him and George the same plan, but Jimmy’s injury is a little different. There’s a little more risk in there, so we didn’t feel good about putting it back into practice this week. And it’s also a bit more difficult for the quarterback to get into it. There aren’t that many reps for the other guys.
We’ll see how he feels next week. Maybe we can get him into practice, but I think his schedule is at least a week behind George’s.
It doesn’t sound like a coach who thinks of seeing his starting quarterback on the pitch this season.
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