The undefeated San Francisco 49ers are heading into Sunday’s road game against the Atlanta Falcons with an injury list so long that head coach Kyle Shanahan says the team may not be able to field the maximum 48 players allowed on a game-day roster.
San Francisco will be missing receiver Mike Evans, who has a sore Achilles, and defensive end Nick Bosa, who is sidelined with a calf injury. The team’s receiver room was already short-handed before those losses, with Ricky Pearsall, Deebo Samuel Sr., De’Zhaun Stribling and Demarcus Robinson all unable to play Sunday.
The 49ers also ruled out safety Marques Sigle and linebackers Garret Wallow and Luke Gifford for the Week 7 matchup.
Shanahan said practice-squad elevations, which teams typically use to fill gaps caused by injuries, likely won’t be enough to bring San Francisco up to a full 48-man roster this week. Instead, he said the coaching staff has discussed lining up some players outside their usual positions to cover the shortage.
“I don’t think ever in my career [has that happened],” Shanahan said. “It’s a unique situation.”
There is one bright spot for San Francisco: veteran receiver Christian Kirk is expected to make his season debut Sunday after returning from injured reserve, Shanahan confirmed.
Bosa’s absence has drawn particular attention after he recently suggested he might be ready to return around Week 5 or 6. The 49ers instead held him out of practice to allow more recovery time, and Shanahan said Bosa’s own optimism appeared to catch the team off guard.
“I just think he was a little too optimistic, especially for Bosa because he’s pretty accurate,” Shanahan said. “He doesn’t say stuff like that unless it’s accurate. I just think it surprised him. He worked out after he said that to you guys and the next day was just a little sore, which surprised all of us, and that wasn’t a great sign, especially going to playing turf and stuff this week.”
Bosa has not played since Week 2. San Francisco will head into its bye week once Sunday’s game against Atlanta concludes.
