On the list of things you don\u2019t want to hear about the 2025 San Francisco 49ers, \u201cWe\u2019re in a similar situation to where we were last year,\u201d might be at the top of the list.<\/p>\n
So when Niners head coach Kyle Shanahan said that on Monday after the team\u2019s first practice of the second week of preseason, it wasn\u2019t just a red flag \u2014 it was a thousand-foot flare demanding you look over here.<\/p>\n
A similar situation to last season? You remember how last season went, right?<\/p>\n
But Shanahan isn\u2019t wrong. This team might not be mired in bizarre contract negotiations (Jauan Jennings\u2019 scenario pales in comparison to last year\u2019s Brandon Aiyuk or even Trent Williams\u2019 absences), but the 2025 squad seems just as injured as the 2024 squad.<\/p>\n
We know how that worked out.<\/p>\n
For a team that needs to start the season strong \u2014 they open with a divisional game and have three NFC West matchups in the first five weeks \u2014 the ever-growing list of absences in Santa Clara has the Niners stuck in the gates with less than a month to go before their season opener in Seattle.<\/p>\n
In Saturday\u2019s preseason debut, more than a third of the team\u2019s 90-man roster was held out of action. Even if the Niners wanted to play starters in that game, at many positions injuries are so widespread it\u2019s difficult to differentiate the first string from the third.<\/p>\n
Last year, the Niners were so injured and generally shorthanded the team had to cancel a joint practice with the Saints. They didn\u2019t have enough bodies. And seeing as how Shanahan values joint practices more than any preseason game, it was telling on Monday that he suggested that this week\u2019s joint practice with the Raiders in Nevada might be seriously limited.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe couldn\u2019t do [third-strings] today. We couldn\u2019t do one-on-ones today,\u201d Shanahan said. \u201cWe\u2019ve had to cut things out. Hopefully we don\u2019t have to cut too many things versus Vegas, but we\u2019ll see after [Tuesday\u2019s] practice.\u201d<\/p>\n
So much for that \u201cnew year, new Niners\u201d mantra.<\/p>\n
All these injuries, on top of the general mystery that comes when you dramatically reshape a roster, as the Niners did this past spring, leave San Francisco in an inauspicious spot in the final stretch of preseason. (Week 1 prep starts in two weeks.)<\/p>\n
San Francisco won six games last year. That wasn\u2019t a mistake or a one-year blip \u2014 it was a destiny manifested in training camp when they were lethargic, undisciplined and distracted for more than a month. That was easily chalked up to contractual chaos and the dreaded Super Bowl hangover.<\/p>\n
But while the off-the-field nonsense was a problem, and the hangover was real, injuries were the 2024 49ers\u2019 biggest problems.<\/p>\n
In training camp and beyond, day was a crapshoot on who would be at work.<\/p>\n
There might be larger issues at hand with how the 49ers handle medical issues \u2014 I\u2019m no doctor \u2014 but there\u2019s a near comical level of absence with this team, again.<\/p>\n
This season, the Niners roster is younger and more unproven. There\u2019s no Super Bowl hangover, but the practice crapshoot is still happening.<\/p>\n
As it stands on Monday, the team\u2019s preferred starters at wide receiver and top rookie \u2014 four of the top five \u2014 on the depth chart are in question or already ruled out for Week 1.<\/p>\n
The defensive line is so banged up that general manager John Lynch is signing a new player nearly every day just to get a two-deep for practice.<\/p>\n
Running back Jeff Wilson rejoined the team Monday.<\/p>\n
And while, yes, all these injuries have provided opportunities for the Niners\u2019 large stable of young players to see serious practice action, and that\u2019s a good thing \u2014 they need the reps, even if they\u2019re Not Ready For Primetime Players \u2014 it\u2019s also resulted in depth safeties standing in at linebacker in scrimmages, and more reps from Dallis Flowers (fourth season, third team), Russell Gage (eighth season, fourth team) and Patrick Taylor (sixth season, fourth team) than anyone planned.<\/p>\n
At least with last season\u2019s team, you could (foolishly, it was proven) provide the benefit of the doubt. They don\u2019t need the reps together \u2013 they were just in the Super Bowl.<\/p>\n
This team \u2014 whatever it might be \u2014 needs those reps together. They just won six games and then underwent a massive roster renovation. They\u2019re entitled to nothing.<\/p>\n
When those all-important reps will come \u2014 if they come \u2014 is anyone\u2019s guess. As it stands, it won\u2019t be this week. Next week \u2014 with the team\u2019s possible \u201cdress rehearsal\u201d preseason game against the Chargers \u2014 looks murky, too.<\/p>\n
But please, keep telling me how easy the team\u2019s schedule is. At this point, the hype around the perceived easiness of the schedule is so frequently discussed, it, more so than any player, might be as well standout performer of camp.<\/p>\n
Wishful thinking doesn\u2019t amount for much in this league.<\/p>\n
The Niners need this season to be different. And yet, with Week 1 fast approaching, it appears to be anything but.<\/p>\n
After Saturday\u2019s preseason debut, a blowout loss to the Broncos in which the 49ers\u2019 lack of depth was glaring, the knee-jerk reaction from many seemed to be \u201chere we go again.\u201d<\/p>\n
An overreaction? Perhaps.<\/p>\n
Then again, on Monday, Shanahan agreed.<\/p>\n