An offseason rule change adjusted the timelines for players on the reserve/PUP list. They are now eligible to practice after two missed games, as opposed to the four-game wait previously in place. Those players stashed on reserve/PUP cannot play until Week 5, but teams have taken advantage of the early practice window this season.
The 49ers will be the latest. Mykel Williams will see his window opened this week, Kyle Shanahan said (via ESPN.com’s Nick Wagoner). Shanahan confirmed Nick Bosa — who had been expected to miss multiple games — will not be in uniform for the 49ers-Broncos tilt Sunday. But the 10th-year HC said (via Wagoner) third-round rookie Romello Height, who missed Week 3, is also on track to practice this week.
Williams is still working his way back from an ACL tear sustained midway through last season. The 49ers placed Williams on IR following his Week 9 injury, and he landed on the active/PUP list to open training camp. The Georgia product was shifted to the reserve/PUP list once San Francisco set its initial 53-man roster.
This timetable seems to have been pushed back from where it was in May, when a Williams training camp return was viewed as likely. With that not coming to fruition, Williams has not practiced since his injury last November. ACL recovery timelines vary, so this return arc is not especially surprising. And it is encouraging the team’s hopeful Bosa sidekick will be back at work starting this week.
San Francisco played most of last season without Bosa and Williams. Bosa suffered a second September ACL tear, missing the team’s final 14 games. He returned for training camp but missed weeks with tendinitis upon recovery. Bosa is now down with a calf injury sustained last week. The absences of Bosa and Williams have led the 49ers to free agency options. Ogbonnia Okoronkwo joined the team in August, and Matt Judon signed today. Judon is on a practice squad deal, but Okoronkwo was as well; the latter is now on the 53-man roster.
The Bears (Shemar Turner, Noah Sewell), Patriots (Brenden Schooler) and Texans (M.J. Stewart) took advantage of the new rule regarding PUP-return windows last week. The 49ers will start Williams’ clock early, and a near-future return appears imminent.
Okoronkwo and Keion White served as the 49ers’ D-end starters against the Cardinals. With Williams sidelined for at least one more week and Judon just arriving, that looks likely to be the case against the Broncos. Denver managed to avoid Myles Garrett in Week 3 and will dodge Bosa in Week 4. Will the Broncos, who faced the Rams without Puka Nacua, also see the 49ers down their top receiver?
Mike Evans is dealing with a rib strain, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport. Shanahan has since called the free agency acquisition day-to-day, though it would not surprise to see the accomplished veteran miss time as a result of this latest injury. Evans was carted off the field during San Francisco’s Week 3 win over Arizona.
Not long after making a hook-and-ladder pitch to Deebo Samuel for an 80-yard touchdown, Evans suffered the rib injury. The 49ers are (again) depleted at receiver, having placed rookie De’Zhaun Stribling and veteran Demarcus Robinson on IR this month. Ricky Pearsall is out for the season after PCL surgery. If Evans misses the Broncos matchup, the 49ers will need to lean heavily on Samuel. They have Jacob Cowing, Jordan Watkins and KhaDarel Hodge as auxiliary options, while Brandin Cooks is now on their practice squad.
Aside from his Marshon Lattimore skirmishes, Evans entered the 2025 season as one of the NFL’s most reliable players. He ripped off a record-setting streak of 11 straight 1,000-yard seasons to start a career. The 33-year-old vet, however, did miss three games in 2024 and was down with a hamstring issue prior to his collarbone break last season.
The 49ers managed to get by with receiver injuries last season; though, Jauan Jennings — now with the Vikings — played a big role in helping the team through that. George Kittle is healthy again, at least, after having missed early-season time due to a hamstring injury last season.
