The San Francisco 49ers have the weekend off. The team will hold a meeting via Zoom on Sunday, but players won't return to the practice field until next week. That's when one injured defender is expected to make his way back.
Javon Kinlaw has not played since Week 3 due to a knee injury. He landed on the 49ers' injured reserve list on October 15. As head coach Kyle Shanahan stated on Monday, the team still expects to activate the defensive tackle's practice window during the upcoming week.
"As long as the rehab keeps going well, we expect to start his window up this week in practice," Shanahan told reporters via a conference call on Friday.
As for the in-game injuries from Thursday night, Shanahan says Charvarius Ward is in the concussion protocol. The cornerback was evaluated for a concussion during the game against the Seattle Seahawks but was cleared to return. However, the 49ers opted to hold him out, even with the Seahawks within one score of a tie, because something didn't "feel totally right about it."
It turns out that was the right call. Ward exhibited concussion symptoms on Friday morning.
"He's been huge, the way he came out and played at the beginning of this year," Shanahan said of Ward. "Then he battled his groin injury, which slowed him down a little bit, but he fought through it and was able to play. Now, I think he's back to playing at the top of his game again, and he was really impressive last night."
Shanahan noted that cornerback Ambry Thomas is day-to-day with an ankle injury. Wide receiver Danny Gray is dealing with a hamstring injury, but it doesn't sound too concerning.
"MRIs were good, so he'll be day-to-day also," Shanahan said of Gray.
The coach added that quarterback Brock Purdy, who entered the game with—and played through—oblique and rib injuries, is doing well.
"He came out well," Shanahan said. "I haven't seen him today, but I just talked to our trainer, and he said he came in feeling good and feeling better today than he actually was earlier in the week. So he got out healthy and should be a lot better going into the next game."
