The San Francisco 49ers will likely start the season with offensive lineman Jon Feliciano on the injured reserve (IR) list. According to head coach Kyle Shanahan, the team plans to carry Feliciano on the 53-man roster before placing him on IR, allowing for a potential return later in the season.
"He ended up having to get some type of—I don't know exactly the surgery he got—but he got something done," Shanahan said. "He'll end up probably starting on IR, and hope to have him back towards the middle of the year."
Safety Talanoa Hufanga (ACL) has been cleared to ramp up his participation, though he won't practice this week. Shanahan still hopes Hufanga can suit up for Week 1 against the New York Jets. Although, nothing is certain.
When asked if Hufanga might start the season on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list, Shanahan replied, "Not necessarily. That's still up for discussion right now. He got cleared last week, so it's been good that he can do real football drills and stuff with the trainers and everything. He's been going a lot harder with that, I think two days on, two days off. Hopefully, it goes real good this week, and maybe we could ease him into practice next week."
Additionally, rookie wide receiver Ricky Pearsall will also be absent from practice.
It wasn't all bad news for the 49ers. The team expects to welcome offensive linemen Spencer Burford (hand) and Ben Bartch (knee) back to practice, along with running backs Isaac Guerendo (hamstring) and Patrick Taylor Jr. (foot), all in some capacity.