The San Francisco 49ers made a handful of roster moves ahead of their Week 3 showdown against the Los Angeles Rams.
Tight end George Kittle was downgraded to ‘out’ after originally being listed as doubtful on the team’s Friday injury report. It was always unlikely he was going to play after popping up on the practice report as a non-participant Thursday and Friday because of a hamstring injury.
By listing him as ‘doubtful’ the team left the door open to improvement for his ailing hamstring by Saturday. That improvement apparently didn’t come.
Kittle’s absence means the 49ers are down three All-Pros on the offensive side. He joins running back Christian McCaffrey and wide receiver Deebo Samuel.
San Francisco also elevated a couple of players from their practice squad.
With Kittle out, second-year TE Brayden Willis will be active Sunday as a third tight end with Eric Saubert and Jake Tonges. Willis didn’t make the 2024 club after primarily contributing on special teams as a rookie a season ago. That’s likely to be his role again Sunday with Saubert taking a lion’s share of the workload.
Defensive lineman Samuel Okuayinonu was also elevated for Sunday’s game which may be bad news for defensive end Nick Bosa. Bosa is officially questionable with a rib injury, and while there’s no change in his status, the addition of another DE to the active roster could mean San Francisco is worried about their star DE’s availability.
Okuayinonu was up for Week 1 when DE Yetur Gross-Matos was out. He played 14 defensive snaps against the New York Jets and posted a pair of tackles. With Gross-Matos back in action for Week 2, Okuayinonu wasn’t elevated.
If Bosa is out, it’ll make it four total All-Pros missing for the 49ers. Cornerback Charvarius Ward is also questionable with knee and hamstring injuries. That means potentially five All-Pro players could be out for San Francisco.
The 49ers and Rams kick off from SoFi Stadium at 1:25pm Pacific Time on Sunday.
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