Shanahan on Reuben Foster’s availability Sunday: ‘I’d be surprised if he doesn’t play’

It is looking more and more likely that San Francisco 49ers fans will see the return of exciting rookie linebacker Reuben Foster on Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys at Levi's Stadium. His return could be a big boost for the 49ers, who still seek that elusive first victory of the season.

Foster suffered a high-ankle sprain against the Carolina Panthers during the opening weekend of the season on September 10. He returned to practice last week but did not play during Sunday's narrow road loss to the Washington Redskins.

Head coach Kyle Shanahan joined the "Murph & Mac" show on KNBR Friday and gave an update on Foster.

"I'm not going to say (he'll play Sunday) for sure but I'm feeling pretty good about it," Shanahan said. "I know he wants to get out there hard. We still have a practice today so you can always have setbacks and stuff but I'd be surprised if he doesn't play."

You can listen to the entire interview with Shanahan below.

The 49ers plan to transition Foster to the Mike linebacker position, which was NaVorro Bowman's role prior to his release last week. On Thursday, defensive coordinator Robert Saleh discussed the adjustments required by such a transition.

"There's 10 other guys relying on him to make sure that he's getting the call out of his mouth in the huddle, getting close calls," Saleh said. "He doesn't have to align everybody but they need to hear his voice so that's the only thing. He's no longer a listener. He's a communicator."

Saleh explained that the techniques transfer between positions so, while communication is the biggest adjustment, Foster should be fine with everything else required for the transition.