All eyes are on Pro Bowl tight end George Kittle and Pro Bowl receiver Emmanuel Sanders this week, as the Niner Faithful await official word on whether or not the two will play during Sunday's rematch between the San Francisco 49ers and the Arizona Cardinals. Neither has been ruled out, officially.
Kittle has not practiced with his teammates since suffering knee and ankle injuries on October 31 in the first matchup between the two teams. Sanders has not practiced this week after suffering a rib injury during Monday night's loss to the Seattle Seahawks.
Neither offensive weapon was on the field as the 49ers kicked off their final practice of the week before Sunday's game.
#49ers Friday practice report, AKA "Kittle Watch": No Kittle or Emmanuel Sanders at the start of practice
— Matt Barrows (@mattbarrows) November 15, 2019
That wasn't unexpected, though, as both have been deemed game-day decisions by head coach Kyle Shanahan.
"Both of those guys, we're not going to rule out," Shanahan said Friday morning on KNBR. "I think they'll be a decision on Sunday, but hopefully, it will work out in our favor."
Kittle is the 49ers' leading receiver with 46 catches for 541 yards and two touchdowns. Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo has a passer rating of 110.6 when targeting the third-year tight end.
"A normal guy, I would have ruled out for both of these weeks," Shanahan said. "George, I won't. There's too many times that we've thought there's no way he's going to go, and then by the time Saturday comes, he goes and does a workout, and shows us what he can do, and we've ended up playing him, and he's been able to go through the whole game."
Sanders has 13 receptions for 161 yards with two touchdowns since being traded from the Denver Broncos to San Francisco on October 22. Garoppolo has a passer rating of 136.6 when targeting the veteran receiver.
Both Kittle and Sanders were seen working with the 49ers strength and conditioning staff as the team kicked off practice.
Running back Matt Breida also did not practice on Friday, which doesn't come as a shock. He aggravated an ankle injury on Monday night and is not expected to play against the Cardinals unless there is an injury to another running back.
"We know what he went through last year with his ankle injury, and we're trying to give Breida a couple of weeks off just to help him out a little bit," Shanahan said on Friday morning. "Breida, like he has for a while, he can tough through it and go, but he's got to play when he's not 100 percent, and that's why he's in and out of the game a lot. So we're trying to take him out for a little bit.
"That's what the plan is Sunday, but I won't rule him out because we have a practice today. Anything can happen with the other backs, and if something happened with the other backs, we'd have to get him up just for an emergency. But, most likely, we're not going to have him on Sunday."
That leaves the 49ers with Tevin Coleman, Raheem Mostert, and probably Jeff Wilson as the available running backs for Sunday.
Also sidelined is kicker Robbie Gould, who missed Monday's game due to a quad strain.