Dude, you won’t believe this. The San Francisco 49ers just held their second-to-last practice before jetting off to freaking Australia for Week 1 against the Los Angeles Rams, and nine players were straight up missing from Tuesday’s session. Nine! And get this: four of them are projected starters, already sidelining a huge chunk of their squad before the regular season even kicks off. This isn’t exactly the “earnest preparation” they needed for an international opener.
Who’s Missing and Why It Matters
ESPN’s Nick Wagoner dropped the full list of no-shows, and it’s not pretty. We’re talking serious talent off the field. On the defensive line, they were without defensive end Nick Bosa, defensive end Romello Height, and defensive tackle Gracen Halton. Bosa alone is a game-wrecker, so losing him, even for a practice, is a massive blow. Then you’ve got cornerbacks Renardo Green and Ephesians Prysock out, which immediately makes their secondary look thin. Flipping to offense, wide receivers Mike Evans and Jacob Cowing were missing, along with their veteran fullback Kyle Juszczyk. Rounding out the list is linebacker Luke Gifford. When you’re missing multiple starters across offense and defense like Bosa, Green, Evans, and Juszczyk, it’s fair to wonder how effectively you can even run a full practice, let alone prepare for a Week 1 matchup thousands of miles away.
Caution Or Major Concern?
Now, there’s one tiny glimmer of hope for them: tight end George Kittle was actually out there practicing, no setbacks reported. So, it sounds like he’s probably good to go for the season opener. Small mercies, right? The word coming out is that the team is “exercising extreme caution” with the regular season just over a week away. And yeah, you don’t want to push an injured player too quickly. That’s a recipe for disaster. But come on, still having *nine* guys, including four key projected starters, totally absent from one of your final practices before a huge trip? That’s not just caution, that’s a red flag waving in the Aussie wind! It just doesn’t look like a great sign for a team trying to get its rhythm down for Week 1.
The Niners aren’t even required to issue official participation reports until Monday, when their first regular practice week starts. So, Wednesday’s practice is apparently going to be a “better indicator” for who actually hops on that plane to Australia. But honestly, with that many key players missing already, their Week 1 plans just got a lot more complicated. Good luck sorting that out, Niners!
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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