Don’t expect the 49ers starters to play much in their preseason opener against the Las Vegas Raiders.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan on Monday told NFL Network’s Colleen Wolfe and Steve Mariucci that the team won’t play its starters in Vegas in part because of the two joint practices before their game.
“Very little,” Shanahan said when asked how much the starters will play. “I mean usually when we go scrimmage a team we’re much more into the scrimmage than the game. So, we’ll see how the two practices go, but going off our history we try to play our starters as much as we can in those two practices and then keep them out of the game.”
This follows what the club did last year after two joint practices with the Vikings before the second preseason game. Most of the starters got plenty of reps in the two days leading up to the contest and rested during the game.
While sure starters might sit, other key players should get plenty of playing time. There are players trying to win jobs and depth charts to sort out. There’s also a chance a player who might be on track to sit out winds up playing some snaps if they don’t perform well in the joint practices.
All eyes either way will be on quarterbacks Trey Lance and Sam Darnold as their backup QB battle rages. Whether Brock Purdy plays to knock some in-game rust off remains to be seen, although Shanahan on Monday told reporters in a post-practice press conference that he doesn’t anticipate Purdy playing.
The 49ers and Raiders are scheduled for a 1:00pm Pacific Time kickoff on Saturday from Allegiant Stadium in Vegas.
