Defensive ends Leonard Floyd and Yetur Gross-Matos sustained injuries in the first quarter of Friday night's preseason finale against the Las Vegas Raiders. After the game, Shanahan informed reporters that both players suffered knee sprains and would undergo MRIs on Saturday.
Floyd's knee injury is considered day-to-day, which is encouraging news for the 49ers as their Week 1 matchup against the New York Jets rapidly approaches.
Gross-Matos' knee injury is more serious, but he's still considered week-to-week—better news than it could have been.
When asked if Gross-Matos' injury was severe enough to place the defensive lineman on the injured reserve list to start the season, Shanahan said, "I would not think so, with it just being week-to-week. We'll see how this week goes, and hopefully, he'll have a chance to get back in practice next week for Week 1. But no, we haven't mentioned anything about IR."
San Francisco signed Floyd and Gross-Matos in free agency, securing two-year deals for both players. The team hoped these additions would finally provide the long-sought complement to defensive end Nick Bosa and bolster an inconsistent pass rush.
Dee Winters sustained an ankle injury against the Raiders, the severity of which is not yet known. The 49ers are currently awaiting the linebacker's MRI results.
Additionally, Shanahan provided updates on wide receiver Ricky Pearsall and safety Talanoa Hufanga. Pearsall has been dealing with a shoulder subluxation, which is a partial dislocation. The rookie has missed much of training camp and the entire preseason. Hufanga is returning from the ACL injury suffered in November 2023.
"Ricky will be practicing tomorrow," Shanahan revealed. "And then Huff, we'll have to make a decision on him before Wednesday's practice."
That decision, the coach confirmed, will determine whether Hufanga starts the season on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list.
On Friday night, some were surprised to see safety Malik Mustapha start the game against the Raiders. However, Shanahan explained to reporters that this was due to George Odum suffering a minor setback.
Shanahan didn't rule out the possibility of Mustapha being a Week 1 starter but clarified, "Odum was going to start. He rolled his ankle in pregame and didn't think it was that bad. He spatted it up, and then we watched him run down on the first kickoff. We could see him hobbling a little bit. So right when we saw that, we just took him out of the game and said it wasn't smart to play him. But he's fine. He's good now. But just what he did in pregame, we thought it was just a little risky for him to go out and fight through it."
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