When the San Francisco 49ers touched down in Santa Clara on Tuesday following their Mexico City game, the team was already one day behind their normal game week schedule. A short week coupled with the Thanksgiving holiday only shuffled around the practice schedule even further, but on Friday, head coach Kyle Shanahan was pleased to see his team reenergized for their first full-speed workout of the week.
"I just loved the practice that we had," Shanahan said. "I was curious how they were going to be after not doing that (going full-speed in practice) all week and having Thanksgiving yesterday. Those guys came out going. You can tell they're feeling good, and you can tell they are excited and ready to go for Sunday."
Running back Christian McCaffrey echoed the sentiment.
"I think guys feel great," McCaffrey added. "We moved around a little bit today. I think everyone's body feels great. Energy was high, and guys are excited for the challenge on Sunday."
Another notable happening on Friday was the return of defensive lineman Arik Armstead to practice. Armstead has been sidelined for a majority of the season due to separate foot and ankle injuries and has not seen game action since Week 4 versus the Los Angeles Rams. The head coach listed the veteran defensive lineman as doubtful for Sunday's game against the New Orleans Saints on the team's final injury report of the week. His limited participation, however, bodes well for a for a return to game action in the coming weeks.
"He just keeps passing every test," the head coach said. "Today was his first day to get into practice, so it was a big step for him."
Meanwhile on the offensive side of the ball, wide receiver Deebo Samuel (hamstring) received a questionable injury designation heading into the weekend. Samuel has been a limited participant in all three practices this week.
"He didn't feel it much on Tuesday," Shanahan said. "We got the information on Wednesday, and we were safe about it."
Defensive lineman Samson Ebukam (Achilles, quad) fell off the injury report and was a full participant in Friday's practice.
Below is the complete Week 12 Practice Participation and Game Status Report for Friday:
San Francisco 49ers
- Limited Participation: DL Arik Armstead (foot, ankle), WR Deebo Samuel (hamstring)
- Full Participation in Practice: DL Samson Ebukam (quadricep, Achilles), T Trent Williams (not injury related - resting player)
Status Report:
- DL Arik Armstead (foot, ankle) - Doubtful
- WR Deebo Samuel (hamstring) - Questionable
New Orleans Saints
- Did Not Practice: S J.T. Gray (hamstring), DE Payton Turner (ankle), LB Pete Werner (ankle)
- Limited Participation in Practice: DE Marcus Davenport (calf), RB Mark Ingram (knee), DE Cameron Jordan (eye), WR Jarvis Landry (ankle), CB Marshon Lattimore (abdomen), G Andrus Peat (triceps)
- Full Participation in Practice: T James Hurst (concussion), RB Alvin Kamara (illness), T Ryan Ramczyk (knee, not injury related - resting player)
Status Report:
- S J.T. Gray (hamstring) - Out
- DE Payton Turner (ankle) - Out
- LB Pete Werner (ankle) - Out
- DE Marcus Davenport (calf) - Questionable
- RB Mark Ingram (knee) - Questionable
- DE Cameron Jordan (eye) - Questionable
- RB Alvin Kamara (illness) - Questionable
- CB Marshon Lattimore (abdomen) - Questionable
- G Andrus Peat (triceps) - Questionable
