The 49ers will rest a handful of starters with a slew of injured players also sitting out their preseason finale in Houston. ESPN’s Nick Wagoner tweeted out the list of 16 players who won’t play for San Francisco in their final tune up before the regular season. Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, unsurprisingly, is among the 16.
Here’s the full list of players who won’t be in action for the showdown in H-Town:
QB Jimmy Garoppolo
RB Elijah Mitchell (Hamstring)
OL Daniel Brunskill (Hamstring)
RT Mike McGlinchey (Knee)
LT Trent Williams
DE Nick Bosa
DL Arik Armstead (Knee)
DL Javon Kinlaw
LB Azeez Al-Shaair
LB Fred Warner
LB Dre Greenlaw
CB Emmanuel Moseley (Hamstring)
CB Ambry Thomas (Knee)
CB Charvarius Ward (Hamstring)
S Jimmie Ward (Hamstring)
S Dontae Johnson (Ribs)
The 49ers have taken it slow with Kinlaw returning from reconstructive ACL surgery last year. He played a lot in the team’s win over the Vikings on Aug. 20, so it makes sense they wouldn’t rush him back to action five days later.
It’s also not a surprise Williams and Bosa aren’t playing. The left tackle and defensive end are among the best players at their position in the sport. They don’t need a preseason tune up that risks injury.
Armstead is back in practice after missing a bulk of training camp with a sprained MCL. He’d likely play if this was a regular season game, but there’s no need to push his knee for an exhibition finale.
The good news for the 49ers is among the players out with injuries, it sounds like Ward is the only one who’ll miss Week 1 of the regular season. McGlinchey’s health is up in the air as well, though head coach Kyle Shanahan is optimistic the former first-round pick should be available for the opener.
