SANTA CLARA — Two days before the 49ers’ regular-season finale, coach Kyle Shanahan did not announce plans to stash key players for the upcoming playoffs.
But kickoff is not until 1:25 p.m. Sunday, and things could change by then, or perhaps by halftime or the fourth quarter. In other words, the host 49ers (12-4) could be fluid with personnel moves against the Arizona Cardinals (4-12) before sundown Sunday.
Running back Christian McCaffrey and wide receiver Deebo Samuel are both off the injury report and cleared to play, despite knee and ankle issues that have limited them. “They’ll be up. They’ll be playing,” Shanahan said, without elaborating on whether they’ll make either cameo appearances or go the distance if the NFC’s No. 1 seed is within reach.
McCaffrey, after missing the past two days, resumed practicing for Friday’s walk-through session, and Samuel participated all week in his first time back from a Dec. 11 leg injury.
Running back Elijah Mitchell most certainly will be on a snap-count limit Sunday as comes off injured reserve — officially on Saturday — for the second time this season, after his second recovery from a sprained knee. Mitchell returned to practice this week after being out since Nov. 27.
Ruled out Friday were left guard Aaron Banks (knee, ankle), linebacker Dre Greenlaw (back), defensive tackle Kevin Givens (knee), cornerback Ambry Thomas (ankle) and quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, who is a month into his recovery from a fractured foot and still using a knee scooter to keep his weight off it.
How their NFC counterparts are faring in other games could weight into Shanahan’s other personnel decisions, although winning a 10th straight game remains the stated goal, seeing how that locks up at least the No. 2 seed, which is where the 49ers are slotted ahead of the Minnesota Vikings (12-4) by virtue of a better record in NFC games.
“(Playing time) may be talked about on (coaches’) side of things, because we’re not dumb,” Fred Warner said. “We understand the implications of the game and what can happen. As players, our job is to go out there and play as hard as possible from the first whistle to the last, until we are taken off the field. I’m fully expecting to play the entire game.”
For the 49ers to climb to the No. 1 spot like their 2019 team’s Super Bowl voyage, they must win Sunday, and the Philadelphia Eagles (13-3) must lose a third straight game when they host the New York Giants (9-6-1) in another 1:25 p.m. kickoff.
McCaffrey, Mitchell and Samuel have only played three games together — wins over the Los Angeles Chargers, the Cardinals in Mexico City and the New Orleans Saints. Then again, Mitchell has only played four games all season, and McCaffrey didn’t arrive until Oct. 21.
Even quarterback Brock Purdy’s playing time is open for debate. Do the 49ers give the rookie star as many reps as possible in his fifth career start, or do they pull him to allow Josh Johnson more game action beyond the 11 snaps he got Dec. 11 in relief against Tampa Bay?
“I wouldn’t say it’s a desire,” Shanahan said of Johnson getting “bonus” time. “I feel fine with Josh. He’s been in this league a long time. He’s had to come in spur of the moment and I’m OK with Josh in that situation.”
If individual milestones factor into playing-time decisions, consider these: Nick Bosa is two sacks shy of Aldon Smith’s single-season franchise record for sacks (19 1/2); Brandon Aiyuk is 44 receiving yards shy of his first career 1,000-yard season; Fred Warner is six tackles shy of passing Greenlaw for the team lead; and, McCaffrey is 99 scrimmage yards shy of becoming the sixth player since 1970 to register at least 1,900 scrimmage yards in three of his first six seasons.
Warner said of that tackle chase: “Is that how many I need? No, I mean, look, I feel bad for (Greenlaw), honestly, because it’s going to require him missing two games (all season) in order for me to pass him with me playing all 17. He’s had a heck of a season. If I get six (tackles), I get six. If I don’t, I don’t.”
GAROPPOLO/LANCE UPDATE
“The goal,” Shanahan said, remains for Jimmy Garoppolo to be available by the NFC Championship Game or the Super Bowl, if the 49ers advance that far while he recovers from last month’s foot fracture. Garoppolo has made cameos on a knee scooter in the locker room the past couple of weeks but has not answered media questions since his injury. “I think he can put a little weight on it,” Shanahan said, “but he’s not out there running and stuff like that, so it’s a little bit away.”
A week after Trey Lance had follow-up surgery on his ankle, Shanahan said the 49ers were not surprised by it, that they were “warned” that stabilizing hardware might irritate a tendon. Once “Trey told us about it right away, that was a good thing,” as the hardware got removed last Friday, and doctors saw his fibula was “100-percent healed.”
“Once they fixed the break, there was always worry that when you fix the break, (hardware) will that rub the wrong way or something like that,” Shanahan said. ” They fixed the break great, and then they knew they had to go in and fix that (hardware removal), which he’s known for a while.
“They went and cleaned it up and I think that even made him feel better, so he could move on from that. And he’s feeling great now with his rehab and I know he can’t wait to get to this offseason.”
ANOTHER ILLNESS
Defensive tackle Arik Armstead and Javon Kinlaw are questionable because of illness, which sidelined Armstead on Friday and Kinlaw on Thursday. That illness has crept through the 49ers’ locker room. Bosa and punter Mitch Wishnowsky each missed a practice last week for being ill.
DAVIS TO DEBUT?
Rookie defensive tackle Kalia Davis was among the trio who won scout-team, player-of-the-week honors, and he did so for impersonating J.J. Watt. “He likes to swim,” Davis said of Watt’s pass-rush move. “We had a meeting and they showed me what to do. I didn’t do a deep dive on him, though.”
Davis still could debut in a season that’s been spent recovering from an anterior cruciate ligament tear, but Shanahan said that will only happen if injuries to others prompt the 49ers to summon him.
“I’m around a lot of great talent and am blessed to be in this situation,” said Davis, a sixth-round choice out of Central Florida who got drafted No. 220, or 42 spots ahead of Purdy. “In Year 2, I’ll take what I learned and apply that in OTAs.”
Davis has spent the year on the reserve/non-football-injury list, so that is unrelated to the 49ers’ short-term, injured-reserve activations, of which the 49ers will use their eighth and final spot on Mitchell. The other scout-team awards this week went to Johnson, who’s had to impersonate Cardinals plug-in starter David Blough, and offensive lineman Jason Poe.
WATT’S FAREWELL
Watt, the Cardinals’ star defensive end, after the final practice of his 12-year career, said of his goal for Sunday’s finale: “I want to go out there and enjoy it.”
The Cardinals ruled out seven players, including quarterback Colt McCoy, wide receivers DeAndre Hopkins and Robby Anderson, running back James Conner, linebacker Zaven Collins, cornerbacks Marco Wilson and Antonio Hamilton, and defensive end Zach Allen. Safety Chris Banjo (concussion) and defensive lineman Jonathan Ledbetter (knee) went on the Cardinals’ injured reserve.
Source: www.mercurynews.com