San Francisco 49ers running back Matt Breida left this past Sunday's game against the Arizona Cardinals with a mid-ankle sprain. Head coach Kyle Shanahan said earlier in the week that Breida would likely be doubtful for Monday night's game against the Green Bay Packers.
With an extra day to prepare, the 49ers are holding their first practice of the week on Thursday rather than Wednesday. They will have practices on Friday and Saturday as well.
As expected, Breida is among those who will not practice on Thursday, but Shanahan isn't ready to rule his running back out for the matchup at Lambeau Field. The decision on whether or not to add another running back to the roster will depend on how healthy Breida looks over the next few days.
"I'm not ruling him out," Shanahan told reporters on Thursday. "It will be day-to-day. It's still the same case but still keeping our fingers crossed for him."
Shanahan added that the following players also would not practice on Thursday.
- WR Pierre Garçon (shoulder, knee)
- TE George Kittle (knee)
- G Mike Person (knee)
- C Weston Richburg (knee)
- T Joe Staley (knee)
- WR Trent Taylor (back)
Also on the list was wide receiver Dante Pettis (knee), who Shanahan revealed on Monday will not play against the Packers. The team may be getting another receiver back, though. Wide receiver Marquise Goodwin (hamstring, quadricep) is slated to be a full participant in Thursday's practice, says Shanahan. He did not play against the Cardinals.
"Defenses definitely have to game plan for having a guy like Marquise in there," quarterback C.J. Beathard said on Thursday. "It changes your offense a little bit and what you want to do as a scheme, for sure. So it will be nice to have him back this week."
"He's tried to come back (after his initial injury against the Minnesota Vikings during Week 1), and the times he has come back, he's been alright for about a quarter," Shanahan said. "Then his injuries caught back up with him. He hurt his thigh versus Minnesota, and that was a big, deep thigh bruise where he had to get a lot drained, and that's affected a lot of his legs.
"He's pushed it through a number of weeks where he's come out, and it's hurt him by the second quarter, and then you're down a guy for most of the game. Then with losing Pettis also, having both of our first and second X (receiver) out after the Chargers game, that's why we had to be a lot smarter with Quise last week. He wanted to go, and if he could have gone for a little bit, it was going to be the same thing where he had to go out very quickly in the game, and we needed more guys up.
"So it's good news that he feels as good as he does today. That's much better than last week, and hopefully, that will continue throughout the week."
The 49ers' Thursday practice is scheduled to begin at 1:25 p.m. PT.