The San Francisco 49ers opened up a short week of practice with a padless workout on Tuesday afternoon. Team drills were largely reserved for veteran starters and those who saw less of a workload in Sunday's game versus the New Orleans Saints. With a lighter practice Tuesday, expect the team to return to regularly scheduled programming tomorrow. San Francisco is slated to have two practices and a walkthrough in Santa Clara before wheels up to Las Vegas for their preseason finale versus the Raiders.
The 49ers expected starters saw limited snaps against the Saints, and as of now, it's likely that will also be the case for Friday's exhibition.
"I'd like the starters to play," Shanahan said. "We'll see how today and tomorrow go, but that's the plan."
While injuries continue to linger for several players, the 49ers are on the mend with four players returning to action in some capacity on Tuesday including offensive linemen Ben Bartch and Spencer Burford (hand) and running backs Patrick Taylor Jr. and Isaac Guerendo (hamstring).
Although still not cleared to practice, it's a positive sign to see a slew of players rehabbing on the sidelines. That group included running backs Jordan Mason (hip), Elijah Mitchell (hamstring) and Christian McCaffrey (calf strain), punter Mitch Wishnowsky (back), wide receivers Jauan Jennings (oblique) and Ricky Pearsall (shoulder) and cornerback Isaac Yiadom (ankle). Talanoa Hufanga (ACL) was watching practice from the sideline - per Shanahan, neither him or Pearsall will be participating in practice this week.
"(Hufanga) got cleared last week, so it's been good that he can do real football drills with the trainers and everything," Shanahan said. "He's been going a lot harder with that. I think two days on, two days off. Hopefully, it goes really well this week and maybe we could ease him into practice next week."
The head coach also delivered some less positive news regarding veteran offensive lineman Jon Feliciano who has missed most of training camp and the preseason. Feliciano recently underwent surgery and will likely begin the year on the Injured Reserve list. The hope is that Feliciano will rejoin the team "towards the middle of the year."
