Niners Nation
Injuries are beginning to pile up in Santa Clara
Day nine of training camp just concluded for the San Francisco 49ers, and the running back room took a big hit today with FB Kyle Juszczyk and RB Isaac Guerendo exiting today’s session. DE Nick Bosa (rest), OT Colton McKivitz (unknown), CB Darrell Luter (personal reasons), and DT Kevin Givens were not seen practicing today, joining WR Jauan Jennings and Jacob Cowing, RB Jordan James, CB Demommodore Lenoir, and Renardo Green. WR Jordan Watkins and S Ji’Ayir Brown returned to practice after missing yesterday’s session.
Winners
Ricky Pearsall
Another fine outing for the second-year receiver, who went up against backup cornerbacks. Pearsall caught all four of his targets, including a few explosive gains. While it’s easy to dismiss Pearsall’s performance due to his competition, the positive reports from training camp are encouraging for a player the 49ers are desperately counting on in 2025.
Brock Purdy
Quarterback training camp stats are overanalyzed, but Purdy was a perfect 11 for 11 on Saturday, per Matt Barrows of The Athletic. Purdy’s connection with Pearsall was on full display, which continues from their work in the offseason. The newly extended signal caller has had a strong camp, which will need to carry over into the season, given the possible bumps and bruises with the young 49ers defense in 2025.
Greg Joseph
The 49ers' kicker competition continues between the veteran and Jake Moody, with Joseph finishing a perfect 4/4 and Moody missing wide right and finishing 3/4. The current tally is 22/24 for Joseph and 21/24 for Moody. Whoever wins this competition will need to be steady, as the 49ers kicked away (sorry) several scoring opportunities in 2024. The easiest way to avoid cardiac kicker situations is to score more touchdowns in the red zone.
Losers
The Running Back room
RB Jordan James is already missing due to an injury. Ameer Abdullah was brought in, but the injuries to Juszczyk (unknown) and Guerendo (shoulder/arm), although the severity is unknown, are very concerning. Corey Kiner, Patrick Taylor, Jr, Christian McCaffrey, and Abdullah are the only backs healthy in training camp. Tomorrow is an off day, thankfully, but fans will hold their breath awaiting the injury updates. Guerendo was having a very good camp while cementing himself as the clear RB2, but injuries continue to get in the second-year running back’s path.
