According to Matt Barrows of the Athletic, the San Francisco 49ers have canceled their upcoming joint practices with the New Orleans Saints due to the mounting number of injuries.
"The 49ers decided to scuttle the planned trip to Irvine, Calif., on Thursday and Friday because the roster is so banged up," Barrows wrote.
After Saturday's preseason opener against the Tennessee Titans, head coach Kyle Shanahan expressed concern about the joint sessions at the University of California, Irvine, citing the impact of injuries on the team's ability to participate effectively.
"It's awesome to get a chance to scrimmage versus people," Shanahan told reporters after the game. "We're a little banged up, so we got to figure out how we can pull that off and stuff like that. It seems like losing [CB] Ambry [Thomas] will be tough, hoping a number of other things don't pop up tomorrow."
Thomas suffered a broken right forearm during the game and is expected to undergo a lengthy recovery.
Several players missed last week's final practice due to injuries, and key contributors like Christian McCaffrey, Fred Warner, and Nick Bosa didn't travel with the team for their preseason game.
"But last week, we had like 23 guys out of practice the last time that we practiced, so hopefully, [we] can get more of those guys back so we can have a decent scrimmage," Shanahan continued.
Instead of the joint practices, the 49ers will hold four practices in Santa Clara before next weekend's preseason contest against the Saints at Levi's Stadium. These practices are scheduled for Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.
Barrows added, "Cancelling the joint practice is a big deal for Shanahan. He's said for years that the practices — which had been conducted in Denver, Minnesota, Los Angeles and Las Vegas in recent years — are more important than preseason games."
