The San Francisco 49ers officially announced the signing of Clelin Ferrell to the practice squad. Additionally, offensive lineman Drew Moss was waived. Moss losing his job was the domino effect Kyle Shanahan
was talking about.
The team letting go of a guard from the active roster is a sign that Ben Bartch’s practice window isn’t just open, but he’s expected to play. The rotations between Connor Colby and Nick Zakelj did not work against the Houston Texans. Bartch will give the team stability. The only question is for how long, given his lengthy injury history.
Bartch’s contract is up after 2025. Left guard hasn’t been a position the 49ers have figured out under Kyle Shanahan. Aaron Banks was the closest thing to a hit, but injuries derailed his play as 2024 wore on.
If Bartch or Spencer Burford, for that matter, are activated from the Injured Reserve, the 49ers will need to do more roster shuffling. Moss’s spot clears the way for Keion White.
It would need to be a player the 49ers are content with losing in free agency if another team is interested. That could be Austen Pleasants, if it’s Burford or Nick Zakelj, if it’s Bartch. Having your starting center, Jake Brendel, injured compounds the issue.
Here are the players who aren’t practicing today:
C Jake Brendel (hamstring)
LB Dee Winters (knee)
DT Alfred Collins (shoulder)
DE Yetur Gross-Matos (knee/hamstring)
WR Ricky Pearsall (knee)
DE Bryce Huff (hamstring)
And the group that will be limited:
QB Brok Purdy (toe)
LG Ben Bartch (ankle)
DE Sam Okuayinonu (ankle)
DT Jordan Elliott (ankle)
Kyle Shanahan said Purdy will take reps today. He wouldn’t say whether it’d be with the first or second team, but Purdy will practice in some capacity. Purdy needs to show the team that he’s confident and ready to suit up this Sunday:
That he’s confident and ready to go, based off how his toe feels. He’s going to look that way most likely, when he’s out there. If he gets out there and he’s hobbling around and stuff, he won’t be out there. He’s got to go out there and go through the practices and stuff and really let us know how good he feels, because it’s hard to know what’s going on with the toe. They’re really iffy things.
Last time, we felt like he was feeling pretty good in practice. And then in the game, one hit set him back five, or six weeks. Whatever this has been. Four weeks. So, it’s kind of a sensitive situation. Hopefully, getting some reps in practice will give him some confidence that it was better than last time.
Shanahan ended by saying Purdy’s injury “is not as black and white as you guys want it to be” when asked if Brock needs to let him know if he’s good to go by the end of the week. There is no deadline for Purdy.
The reason Purdy, Pearsall, or Gross-Matos weren’t placed on the Injured Reserve was because “all of them were week-to-week. So, hoping that it could be faster.”
Shanahan has chalked Bartch’s injury history up to bad luck:
“I love how Bartch works. He works real hard. He’s had some real unfortunate deals with injuries, and all of them have been real serious ones. They don’t happen on air. He’s been rolled up a couple of times. Some real bad ones, that looks like he’s gone for the year. He’s had some bad luck. He’s close to getting right, though. Hopefully, he’ll have better luck when he gets back out there.”
Shanahan stressed how injured Jauan Jennings has been this season. He also said, “I’d be very surprised if Jauan wasn’t on our team throughout this year.” So much for that, ESPN.
