The NFL preseason isn’t exactly a favorite of 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan. His team plays three of their four preseason games in a 10-day span to close this year’s four-week slate – a glaring scheduling disadvantage made even more prominent by the rash of injuries that hit San Francisco in the lead up to their first exhibition contest.
Shanahan told reporters that he’d rather have zero preseason games, but does find a bit of value in having a couple.
“Yeah, you absolutely don’t need four preseason games,” Shanahan said. “I’d rather have zero than four, preferably I’d like two. One to evaluate the people trying to make the team and then just one to knock a little rust off.”
Instead the 49ers are stuck with four games to get through, which means 240 minutes of trying to keep players healthy. That’s the reason so many starters see such limited action in preseason contests. It’s also why quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo will only play in the second and third games.
Shanahan would prefer more practice time instead of games. He said he puts more value on practice time than on preseason matchups.
It’ll be a perilous preseason for a 49ers club that badly needs a healthy season. With five players already in danger of missing Week 1, the injury risk in the preseason feels higher than normal. They can’t choose to play just two of their four games, but the coaching staff will likely play the starters about as much as they would in a two-game slate to ensure they’re healthy and ready for Week 1 of the regular season.
