San Francisco 49ers wide receivers Marquise Goodwin and Dante Pettis have dealt with injuries throughout the season. Goodwin will play on Sunday in the finale against the Los Angeles Rams while Pettis sits the game out. The latter suffered an MCL sprain this past weekend against the Chicago Bears.
Goodwin isn't 100 percent healthy either. He will not practice on Wednesday after suffering a calf contusion against Chicago.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan spoke with reporters on Wednesday and discussed his two receivers. The 49ers drafted Pettis in April because they were fond of his versatility. He can line up at a number of spots on offense and has done so during his rookie campaign. Pettis was even a returner on special teams earlier in the season but suffered a knee injury during Week 4 against the Los Angeles Chargers.
Could Pettis' role next season still include returning the football?
"That depends on what he's doing offensively, if we think he's definitely the best guy," Shanahan answered. "If it's tied with someone, if he had a huge load on offense, I'd give the tie to someone else. So it just depends on what his workload is and if he's the best guy on our team."
Where does Shanahan envision Pettis playing on offense next season, assuming he has a significant role?
"That's the thing that I think I like the most about Pettis," Shanahan answered. "You don't have to pencil him at one position. He's got the ability to do all three. Whatever the rest of our roster looked like, where he got to, and just the way you can put the best three guys out there together."
Hopes were high for Goodwin after he nearly reached the 1,000-yard receiving milestone last year. It would have been the first 1,000-yard season of his career.
Goodwin's 2018 campaign has been a disappointment. He has just 23 catches for 395 yards with four touchdowns through 11 games and eight starts this season.
"I think he's just been very inconsistent, especially with his health," Shanahan admitted. "He hasn't missed a ton of games, but he's definitely missed some. When he has been able to go, he hasn't been 100 percent throughout those games. It's tough to be consistent when you're not healthy, and we're dealing with that this week too. A lot of that you can't control. Hopefully, he'll be more fortunate with that stuff next year."
Shanahan went on to say he would love Goodwin to be in a situation where he didn't have to play the majority of the snaps in a game.
"It definitely would help him more to not be out there as much," Shanahan added.
