Team news: San Francisco 49ers | Page 2

Eddy Pineiro has a grade 1 hamstring strain and will miss some time.

The Niners will need to sign a new kicker heading into Monday night's game against the Panthers.

The 49ers won't open the practice windows for either Brandon Aiyuk (knee) or Jacob Cowing (hamstring) this week, Shanahan said.

Cowing's won't be opened until after the Week 14 bye. Aiyuk remains week to week, Shanahan said, according to the post. The team is planning to have Aiyuk back, but continue with the slow process in making that happen.

49ers quarterback Brock Purdy made a successful return to the lineup against the Cardinals on Sunday.

“No, I didn’t even think about it, honestly, in the game or anything,” Purdy said, via 49ersWebzone.com about his toe injury. “At practice and everything, that’s where I tested it all out. I’m like, at practice, rolling out, ‘All right, do I feel it, do I not?’ No, I don’t, I feel great. And then come [game-time] when I warmed up and everything, I didn’t even think about it. It felt great. Throughout the game and stuff, I was able to do everything — scramble, keepers, roll-outs, step up in the pocket. I played quarterback.”

Related players: Mac Jones

Purdy had been out since aggravating a toe injury in Week 4, but he didn’t show many signs of rust while completing 19-of-26 passes for 200 yards and three touchdowns in a 41-22 win. The 49ers took a cautious approach with Purdy’s return to minimize further issues with the injury, the story went on to say. The Niners look to be in good shape, hosting the Panthers this coming week and then traveling to Cleveland before a Week 14 bye.

Shanahan did not have any positive changes to report about wideout Brandon Aiyuk. He remains on the physically unable to perform list as a result of last season’s knee injury and Shanahan said he will not return to practice ahead of the team’s Week 11 game against the Cardinals.

The news on Aiyuk has been back and forth as of late. A few weeks ago a report said he wasn't close but a more recent report indicated he was getting closer. It will get tough and tougher to trust Aiyuk in fantasy lineups even if he does return sooner than later, especially as we head down the stretch of the fantasy regular season and then the fantasy playoffs.

The 49ers are hoping to get Ricky Pearsall (knee) back for practice this week.

Pearsall has missed six games with his knee injury and the Niners can always use more weapons on offense with QB Mac Jones under center and a big workload burden falling on RB Christian McCaffrey.

49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters following Sunday's loss against the Rams that he hopes there's a chance for quarterback Brock Purdy to return in Week 11 against the Cardinals.

"I do believe he's further along than he was (in Week 4)," Shanahan said. "So hopefully he'll have a chance this week." Shanahan also said Purdy "could have gone today" as the backup but wanted to hold him out one more week. Purdy has been out since Week 4 and has played in just two games this season. Mac Jones threw for 319 yards and three touchdowns, his third game this season with 300 passing yards (two vs. Rams) and his third straight multi-touchdown game, which has allowed San Francisco to be cautious with Purdy's return. Jones threw for 284 and a touchdown in Week 3 against Arizona.

49ers will start Mac Jones at QB vs Rams

OUT
WR Ricky Pearsall
QUESTIONABLE
QB Brock Purdy
DT Alfred Collins
DT Kalia Davis
LB Dee Winters
LB Tatum Bethune
DL Keion White

Related Players: Jauan Jennings, Kendrick Bourne, Demarcus Robinson, Jordan Watkins

Jones is once again in SuperFlex starting range, but can be looked over for better plays in typical leagues.

Jennings is in WR3 range, but George Kittle is the only other pass-catcher we should trust in fantasy.

Here’s the 49ers’ preliminary practice participation report via Shanahan:
No practice
WR Ricky Pearsall (knee)
DL Mykel Williams (knee)
Limited
QB Brock Purdy (toe)
C Jake Brendel (hamstring)
DE Bryce Huff (hamstring)
LB Dee Winters (knee)
LB Tatum Bethune (thigh)

We could honestly just copy-paste this exact same news blast every single week, and no one would notice.

As of now, there is no Week 10 fantasy impact, as the 49ers are in the same position they've been in since the end of September. We'll keep an eye on their practice reports to see if Purdy or Pearsall are able to suit up this weekend.

WR watch: Kyle Shanahan said the team would not open Brandon Aiyuk's practice window this week. He said Ricky Pearsall (knee) has a chance to play but will be evaluated at mid week.

Both WRs continue to inch closer to getting back to action. Reports a few weeks ago said that Aiyuk wasn't all that close, but more recent ones said he was getting there. It's clear the team is taking it slow with Aiyuk. The Niners Wire suggested the team may be trying to manage his return around the Week 14 bye, where they'll get a bonus practice in the Monday after the bye. Niners Wire also suggested the team could just not be ready to bring back Aiyuk because they're not confident he'd be able to be ready to play in a game within his 21-day window. That potentially means Aiyuk is closer to another month away from returning. We'll likely know more about Pearsall with practice reports this week.

49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said last week that there was some hope that Brock Purdy could serve as the backup or emergency quarterback for Sunday’s road game against the Giants, but he ultimately remained on the inactive list due to turf toe while Mac Jones started for the fifth straight game.

“No, nothing changes Mac Jones in that way,” Shanahan said, via 49ersWebzone.com. “We’re trying to ease Brock out there in the practice stuff, but anytime you’re dealing with this turf toe, it’s something that probably won’t fully go away all year. Regardless of when he comes back, he’s going to always have to deal with it a little bit, especially with the people you talk to who have gone through turf toe.”

The story went on to say Shanahan said Purdy, “wasn’t that close to doing it,” as far as being the backup, despite a week of limited practice work for Purdy. Shanahan also addressed the difficulty of knowing when Purdy is close enough to 100 percent to play by saying that the toe issue is unlikely to go away, although he added that he doesn’t think that uncertainty weighs on Jones’ preparations from week to week. Reports again say Purdy has a chance to play in Week 10 against the Rams, which is a later Sunday home game for the Niners.