The San Francisco 49ers and New Orleans Saints were supposed to have joint practices in Irvine, Calif. in the week leading up to their preseason showdown at Levi’s Stadium.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan often values the joint practices more than preseason games, but the 49ers had to cancel the combined sessions in Southern California due to mounting injury concerns.
ESPN’s Nick Wagoner reported the 49ers feared they wouldn’t have enough players healthy to properly execute the joint practices. San Francisco will practice as normal at the SAP Performance Center at Levi’s Stadium.
The 49ers had more than 20 players out of practices leading up to their preseason opener. In their preseason game against the Titans, 33 players sat out the game for various reasons.
Skipping joint practices is probably the right move given where the 49ers are injury-wise. Having the heated head-to-head sessions with a diminished number of available players could lead to increased chance of injury with more reps being given to players.
That’s particularly true for the 49ers’ starters. Their starting units are healthy for the most part, and added reps in a joint practice could certainly endanger that.
It wouldn’t be a surprise if the 49ers took it easy in the week of practice before their second preseason game against the Saints. They need to get through camp healthy above all else, and they’re not doing well in that department through the first couple weeks of padded practices.
The 49ers and Saints are slated to kickoff from Levi’s Stadium on Sunday, Aug. 18 at 5:00pm Pacific Time.
