Illinois wants 49ers LB coach Hardy Nickerson for defensive coordinator

The door hasn't completely shut on the possibility of Jimmy Garoppolo being the San Francisco 49ers' starting quarterback on Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals. The veteran quarterback hasn't practiced this week after sustaining a calf injury during Week 4's loss to the Seattle Seahawks. Things appear to be trending in the direction of rookie Trey Lance making his first career NFL start. Garoppolo hasn't given up hope of playing, though. He may be on the practice field on Friday, the team's final practice of the week. Head coach Kyle Shanahan joined KNBR this afternoon. The only player he was willing to rule out for the weekend is cornerback K'Waun Williams, who isn't expected to return until after the bye week. "Jimmy told me he wants to give it a

Today, San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan spoke with reporters via a conference call. His team is coming off a 28-21 loss to the Seattle Seahawks and fell to 2-2 on the season. Shanahan provided several injury updates from the game. The most discussed injury was to quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, who could not start the second half, giving way to rookie Trey Lance. Shanahan said Garoppolo suffered a calf contusion and will be re-evaluated on Wednesday. However, the coach believes there is still a chance that Garoppolo will be available for this weekend's game against the Arizona Cardinals. RELATED: Shanahan says

George Kittle spoke with reporters after today's practice. The San Francisco 49ers tight end's availability for Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks seems up in the air right now. Kittle has been dealing with what has been described as "calf soreness." He did not practice on Wednesday or Thursday and was limited this afternoon. Still, it's George Kittle, and you never want to rule him out of anything. "Totally faking it," Kittle joked. "Yeah, I'm feeling good." Today, head coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters that the issue didn't originate from the Green Bay Packers game. It started in either Week 1 or Week 2. The coach couldn't recall which game, specifically. "He'd gotten stepped on pretty hard, so that bothered him," Shanahan said. "...

Elijah Mitchell missed last weekend's game against the Green Bay Packers due to a shoulder injury sustained during Week 2. The hope was that the rookie running back would only have to miss the one game, but he is listed as "questionable" for Sunday's NFC West clash with the Seattle Seahawks. Mitchell has been limited in practice all week while wearing a blue no-contact jersey. Right now, it seems to be more of a question of how much the running back can endure. "Yeah, it's just a pain thing," head coach Kyle Shanahan explained. "I can tell you guys right now, I don't question his pain tolerance. The fact that it's taking a while means there's a lot of pain in there. If he can go and take it, that will be pretty impressive. "Each day helps a little