The San Francisco 49ers open their season on Monday Night Football against the New York Jets to cap Week 1.
While a Monday night opener at Levi’s Stadium on national TV is a fun way to kickoff the regular season, it throws the team’s normal week of preparation off by a day.
Most teams are getting a bonus practice Monday before resuming their normal week of practices Wednesday, taking Saturday off, then playing Sunday.
For the 49ers, they’ll be a day behind.
San Francisco has a bonus practice Tuesday, they’ll take Wednesday off, and then their normal week of practice starts Thursday. They’ll get Thursday, Friday and Saturday practices in before a day off Sunday.
It’s not a normal week to begin the season, but it might ultimately benefit the 49ers.
They’ll get one extra day to get players healthy. Defensive end Yetur Gross-Matos, running back Christian McCaffrey and wide receiver Jauan Jennings are all dealing with injuries leading up to the opener.
It also gives the 49ers an extra day to try and resolve left tackle Trent Williams’s holdout. Williams has yet to report to the team facility as he negotiates a new contract with San Francisco.
Tuesday’s practice won’t include an official participation report. That will begin Thursday and we’ll start getting a better picture of where the 49ers will be health-wise going into their Monday night opener.