SANTA CLARA — Tight end George Kittle and fullback Kyle Juszczyk are battling hamstring issues, but it sounds like neither 49ers’ star is in jeopardy of missing the Sept. 13 season opener.
Kittle came out of Wednesday’s practice as a precaution and looked fine as he proceed to do individual conditioning with a trainer.
“Checked out all right, but it was tight so we took him out of there before something bad happened,” coach Kyle Shanahan said Thursday.
Juszczyk is considered “week to week” after not practicing Wednesday. He, too, worked with a trainer and looked upbeat.
Both players are mainstays to the 49ers’ offense and they’d taken part in the nine previous practices. Thursday’s session was adjusted to a walk-through to keep players as healthy as possible for Friday’s run-through at Levi’s Stadium.
The 49ers will practice Sunday before switching to regular-season mode Monday, when media access becomes more restricted.
Aside from ruling out wide receiver Jalen Hurd (knee) for the season, the 49ers have an injury list that is crowded but not with long-term issues: wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk (mild hamstring strain), defensive ends Nick Bosa (leg strain) and Dee Ford (calf strain), center Ben Garland (ankle sprain), cornerback K’Waun Williams (calf), guard Ross Reynolds (knee bruise), tight end Ross Dwelley (foot) and safety Marcell Harris (ankle sprain).
Five players awaiting medical clearance to practice for the first time are wide receivers Deebo Samuel (foot) and Richie James Jr. (wrist), center Weston Richburg (knee) and defensive linemen Ronald Blair (knee) and Jullian Taylor (knee). Samuel and Blair are likely to come off in time for the Week 1 roster.
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Source:: The Mercury News – Sports