San Francisco 49ers running back Matt Breida (ankle) has been inactive for the last three weeks. That won't be the case this weekend against the New Orleans Saints, according to head coach Kyle Shanahan.
"Breida is good to go," Shanahan said during his Friday-morning KNBR interview with Adam Copeland, Tony Rhein, and Donte Whitner.
Breida remains the team's leading rusher with 542 yards on 109 carries despite only having played in nine games. Although, Raheem Mostert is just three yards shy of that rushing total.
Breida has been a full participant in practice this week.
Defensive end Dee Ford (quadricep, hamstring) has been inactive for the past two weeks and limited during practices this week. Shanahan feels his veteran pass rusher is on pace to return to the field on Sunday.
"We were tempted to put him in last week just because he was close," Shanahan said. "But any time you've got a hamstring (injury), it's way too risky. It was hard to keep him out last week, but he's looked good in practice this week.
"We still have one more (practice) today, so hopefully, he'll go out there today and continue that. If he does, he looks on track to play, and I'm expecting him to have a big game."
One player who Shanahan is less optimistic about is safety Jaquiski Tartt, who suffered a rib injury during this past weekend's matchup against the Baltimore Ravens.
"Tartt, he's got the fractured ribs, so anytime you have that, it's extremely painful, hard to breathe," Shanahan said. "They say it is a pain tolerance, which people are like, 'Oh, are they not tough enough to go out (there)? This is pain.' Trust me, it's more pain than people can realize. You barely can breathe.
"That stuff, you are day-to-day with it. You don't know how long it's going to last. I'd be surprised if Tartt plays. He'll end up getting, most likely, a 'doubtful' tag today when we end up doing it. But hopefully, he'll get back here in the next couple of weeks.
"It's similar to what Emmanuel (Sanders) had a few weeks ago, but Marcell (Harris) stepped up and did great. Expecting him to get that opportunity again on Sunday, and we're expecting him to not only go in there and play well but to even play better."
You can listen to the entire conversation with Shanahan below.
