49ers officially sign Alex Smith, Ray McDonald and Tony Wragge; LaBoy goes to Chargers

Alex Smith is set to make his first start since suffering a gruesome and life-threatening leg injury on November 18, 2018. The story of the Washington quarterback, who started his career with the San Francisco 49ers, has been an inspiration. Many fans across the NFL landscape will be pulling for Smith on Sunday when the Washington Football Team faces the Detroit Lions at Ford Field. One of those fans is 49ers left tackle Trent Williams, who played with Smith in 2018. He joined KNBR on Thursday night and was asked about his former teammate. "It's a Cinderella story, for lack of a better word," Williams told Mark Willard. "I was actually one of those guys who seen Alex in the hospital after he had been through, I think it was 12 surgeries in 13 days or 11 surgeries

The San Francisco 49ers announced today that two more players — center Hroniss Grasu and linebacker Joe Walker — have joined defensive linemen Arik Armstead and Javon Kinlaw on the reserve/COVID-19 list. That adds up to 11 49ers players who have landed on the reserve/COVID-19 list this year, and the fourth this week. Armstead landed on the reserve/COVID-19 list on Monday. Contact tracing resulted in Kinlaw landing on the list on Wednesday. The 49ers have been working remotely this week but plan to hold a practice on Friday. Beginning Saturday, every NFL team will be required to operate under the league's intensive protocol

Reporters did not see San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel during today's practice, which is the last of this week before the team boards a plane bound for New Orleans. That means the second-year wideout did not practice at all this week, making his availability for Sunday's game against the Saints very unlikely. Samuel is attempting to return from a hamstring injury suffered during the 49ers' Week 7 win over the New England Patriots. General manager John Lynch had hoped Samuel might be able to get onto the practice field today but noted that his availability for this weekend remained a long shot. "I think the final challenge or opportunity for Deebo to show that he can go is out here on Friday,"