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Injury report: Bosa out, plan for running backs to come Saturday

There was not too much new on the 49ers’ injury report aside from Nick Bosa’s absence from practice. Bosa was out with soreness from his high ankle sprain; not necessarily a surprise, or a concern yet, but worth paying close attention to. The 49ers may well have decided to keep Bosa out as a precautionary measure and to ensure he gets extra rest before next Sunday. The full injury report is below:

The first practice report of #SFvsCIN. pic.twitter.com/3uGrhA3sBw

— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) September 11, 2019

Head coach Kyle Shanahan described what Bosa is going through as well as his level of concern for high ankle sprains in general, after being asked about Matt Breida’s struggle with ankle injuries last season.

“Any time you have something like that; usually injuries like that, high ankle sprains, linger for a long time and when you need to get in the games, usually you do stuff again and hopefully you can recover by Sunday,” Shanahan said. “I’m worried about that for anybody who’s ever had a high ankle sprain. High ankle sprains usually linger throughout the year. Breida’s was a little bit different from that, but yeah, always [concerned].”

Garoppolo aware of errors

Jimmy Garoppolo didn’t have a great game on Sunday, but it was enough to get a win. He went 18-for-27 with 166 yards, 1 TD and 1 pick-six, although he also had a pair of touchdowns to George Kittle called back for a pair of penalties that were questionable or unrelated to the success of the play (the first was a fairly harsh offensive pass interference call on Kyle Juszczyk and the second was an illegal formation call on Mike McGlinchey, who was a few inches ahead of where he needed to be on the line).

In addition to the interception, Garoppolo struggled throwing the ball downfield and missed on multiple, straightforward throws which need to be completed going forward. Those mistakes were chronicled here (along with Garoppolo’s impressive throws) after a review of the 49ers’ Week 1 game tape.

“Things to correct, missed a couple throws that I wish I could have had back… I missed a couple throws that I think, usually I would have hit,” Garoppolo said. “Those are physical mistakes. There’s nothing mentally really about it. I don’t know. Little things. You try and break it down as much as you can – was there a defender in your face? Was it the pocket? Whatever it is. But you just have to make those throws.”

Deebo Samuel’s rude awakening and high expectations

In his first career game, Deebo Samuel also notched his first career start, likely due to the fact that Dante Pettis was nursing a hamstring injury. Pettis took just two snaps all game, something that head coach Kyle Shanahan said was a mistake for which he took ownership of on Monday.

Samuel caught three passes (on three targets) for 17 yards along with a nice catch on a quick slant for a two-point conversion which put the 49ers up 31-17 late in the fourth quarter. He did, however, have a false start penalty and a fumble at the end of the first half which ruined an opportunity for Robbie Gould to hit a chip-shot field goal to give the team a 9-7 lead going into the half (as opposed to the 6-7 deficit they face instead).

Shanahan said he played Samuel too much; the other half of the self-criticism for playing Pettis too little.

“I think he learned what the NFL is like,” Shanahan said. “That was our fault playing him too much; that’s what I was talking about earlier. We should have had Dante in for more and taken those reps down a little bit. But that’s the standard in this league and how hard you have to go and how every play matters, I think he learned that. There were some good learning examples in that game, he did some good things for us, but he also played like a rookie at times, too. To be able to do that and still get away with a win where you can be hard on him for certain things, I think it was a good learning moment for him.”

Samuel, who was also constructively criticized by Jimmy Garoppolo Wednesday as having “a long way to go,” but “natural talent” with an ability to make catches in tight windows, took ownership for his miscues on Wednesday.

“Me, personally, I was hard on myself about it,” Samuel said. “That’s not something we do as a coach and not something we do as a team. You have to be accountable for that. As far as how hard they get on you, they just want you to become a better player and I take coaching very well.”

Other notes: Kwon Alexander was nearly a captain, and Garoppolo’s Youngstown eats

• Shanahan revealed that there were about nine players in the mix for the team’s five captain spots and one of them was nearly taken by first-year 49er, Kwon Alexander. Shanahan said the players, “Really like Kwon… he was right up there,” and that the vote was a reflection of how well-respected he already is in the locker room
• Jimmy Garoppolo is enjoying the Italian food in Youngstown, Ohio – the home of 49ers CEO and owner Eddie DeBartolo Jr. – as well as the ice cream staple, Handel’s, where he had cookies and cream ice cream in a waffle cone. The Yorks had a family dinner, where there Garoppolo said there was praise-worthy spread including mostaccioli. How will this affect Garoppolo’s performance against the Cincinnati Bengals this weekend? Only time will tell.