SANTA CLARA — Coach Kyle Shanahan alluded Saturday night that the 49ers’ injury-strewn state could impact this week’s joint practices with the New Orleans Saints, and indeed an audible has been called.
Those scrimmages no longer will take place Thursday and Friday at UC Irvine, where the Saints have spent training camp the past few weeks. It was a mutually agreed upon cancellation, the 49ers announced.
After Saturday’s 17-13 preseason-opening loss to the host Tennessee Titans, Shanahan said of the scheduled joint practices: “It’s awesome to get a chance to scrimmage against people. We’re a little banged up so we have to figure out how to pull that out.
“Last week we had 23 guys out last time practice, so hopefully we get more of them back so we have a decent scrimmage.”
More injuries and pains surely came Saturday night, although the only one announced by the 49ers was cornerback Ambry Thomas’ fractured right forearm.
Almost all 49ers’ regular starters were held out of the game, either as a precaution or because they were coping with a health issue, the latter of which is the case for running backs Christian McCaffrey (calf), Elijah Mitchell (hamstring) and Isaac Guerendo (hamstring); linebacker Fred Warner (foot); and, wide receivers Rickey Pearsall (shoulder) and Danny Gray (shoulder).
Joint practices have been almost an annual staple of the 49ers’ preseason schedule since Shanahan came aboard in 2017. The 49ers hosted the Denver Broncos in 2017, then hit the road for joint practices at the Houston Texans (2018), the Denver Broncos (2019), the Los Angeles Chargers (2022), the Minnesota Vikings (2022), and the Las Vegas Raiders (2023).