Garnett, who started 11 games for the 49ers as a rookie in 2016, spent all of last season on injured reserve. He injured his knee during a training camp practice and had surgery on August 10, 2017, to "clean out" the knee.
"We challenged Josh," head coach Kyle Shanahan told 49ers.com on Monday at the annual owners' meetings. "We wanted him to take the year to get his body in the best shape possible. Seeing him at the end of the year in December, it looked like he took advantage of his time off. He got his body fat down and his weight down. I think he's in the best shape of his life, and he's given himself a chance to help us this year."
Garnett will compete with Laken Tomlinson, Jonathan Cooper, Zane Beadles, Erik Magnuson, and possibly a draft pick for one of the two starting guard spots this offseason.
"We took a long-term view with Josh. … So we made that decision (to put him on IR), which was a hard one but we certainly hope that he responds well," general manager John Lynch said in November. "He's working his tail off. He's done a great job of really changing his body composition."
h/t to Patrick Tulini for the find.
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