San Francisco 49ers Head Coach Kyle Shanahan met with the media for a conference call on Sunday. He gave some updates on injuries, specifically edge rushers Leonard Floyd and Yetur Gross-Matos. Floyd has a knee sprain and is considered day-to-day. Gross-Matos also has a knee sprain, but is considered week-to-week. LB Dee Winters sustained an ankle injury, but the prognosis cannot yet been determined until Winters undergoes an MRI.
In other injury news, WR Ricky Pearsall is expected to return to practice on Monday, while Shanahan said the team still has to decide whether safety Talanoa Hufanga will start the season on reserve/pup. Shanahan also said safety Malik Mustapha started at safety on Friday because George Odom rolled his ankle in pregame. It sounds like Odom is ok.
Kyle Shanahan said Malik Mustapha started vs. Raiders because George Odum rolled his ankle in pregame. Odum is fine now.#49ers #NYJvsSF #FTTB
— 49ers Webzone (@49erswebzone) August 25, 2024
During the conference call, Shanahan also discussed the upcoming roster decisions. When asked where the most difficult challenges are in paring the roster down to the initial 53, Shanahan said, "I mean, it's just connecting all the positions. I mean, you have the unknowns with BA [Brandon Aiyuk] and Trent [Williams] right now and then we have a lot of good competition, a number of positions, whether to go light in certain places, heavier in some others.
"Definitely don't want to get any specifics, though, because that's what all 32 teams are doing right now, watching everyone's rosters, trying to listen to everything and figure out which guys they can get."
With injuries to Floyd and Gross-Matos, plus the injury to Drake Jackson, the 49ers are in a bit of a bind. They could sign someone who gets released by another team, but will that player be any better than what they already have? Robert Beal Jr., Alex Barrett, Sam Okuayinonu, and Jonathan Garvin are the next in line. When pressed to name who might be the front-runner if Gross-Matos ends up being out for a while, Shanahan didn't take the bait.
"I think you'll see when we decide on the 53," Shanahan answered. "That sounds like a question the other 31 teams are trying to get you to ask me. Sorry, man, but it's too hard to talk about the specifics like that right now."
Each NFL team must cut its 90-man roster down to 53 by Tuesday at 4:00 pm (est).