The San Francisco 49ers are hurting after their Week 4 bout with the Los Angeles Chargers. The offense was already without its starting quarterback and running back. The defense entered the game without its best and most experienced defensive back, Richard Sherman (calf).
The 49ers are just trying to figure out how to field a healthy football team when they host the Arizona Cardinals at Levi's Stadium on Sunday.
Three starting offensive linemen are questionable with knee injuries this week, head coach Kyle Shanahan revealed on Monday. They are center Weston Richburg and tackles Joe Staley and Mike McGlinchey. The good news for Staley is that the injury does not appear to be long-term.
Wide receiver Marquise Goodwin is also questionable with thigh and hamstring injuries while his backup, rookie Dante Pettis, suffered a knee injury during a punt return against the Chargers. Shanahan said Pettis won't play this weekend and will be week-to-week after that.
Shanahan isn't expecting Sherman to be healthy by Sunday either. Of course, the veteran cornerback is not a lock to miss the game.
"I'm not expecting Sherman to be back, but I wouldn't put it past him," Shanahan said.
Wide receiver Pierre Garçon (ankle), running back Matt Breida (shoulder), safety Jaquiski Tartt (shoulder), and defensive lineman Solomon Thomas (shoulder) are all expected to play against Arizona.
The injuries have left Shanahan and the 49ers scrambling to figure out what their game day depth chart will look like this weekend. The team brought in seven quarterbacks for workouts last week following the season-ending injury to Jimmy Garoppolo. While the 49ers were expected to re-evaluate the position this week, it is no longer the most pressing need.
"We've got a bunch of situations we're looking into right now," Shanahan said. "I would love to answer the quarterback situation for everyone because you do want a third one in your building, whether that's practice squad or on the roster. But there's a lot of things that are taking precedence right now.
"We're trying to find a starting X (receiver) and backup X right now. Not sure on our left tackle or our right tackle or our center, both of our safeties. It's a real unusual roster situation where guys aren't out enough to put them on IR, where all the guys except for Pettis are questionable this week, and I'd be surprised if they practice until Friday.
"So there's a lot of stuff up in the air to where I really can't answer [questions about the quarterback] right now. We've got to see what happens."
One possible option at receiver will be to activate Victor Bolden Jr. against the Cardinals. He is coming off of a four-game suspension and is eligible to return to practice this week.
"We're going to see how these receivers go," Shanahan said. "I know Vic could help us out whether we put him on practice squad or active roster. We've got to see how our X's are right now. If we had to play today, we don't have both of them just like we did in that game for a while."
The 49ers will hold practices on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday in preparation for Sunday's game against the Cardinals. Shanahan will speak to reporters again before Wednesday's practice.
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