Demarcus Robinson takes Christian Kirk's spot on the 49ers' 53

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Nick Bosa plays his first game since September, with Buckner beside him

The 49ers (6-1) play the Raiders (4-4) at Levi's Stadium at 1:25 p.m. Pacific on FOX. Nick Bosa is cleared after missing five games and lines up with DeForest Buckner for the first time since the 2019 season. Christian Kirk, Mike Evans and Deebo Samuel are out, and Demarcus Robinson is back off injured reserve. Ten to watch, led by the rookies and second-year players: Jaden Dugger, Gracen Halton, Mykel Williams, Upton Stout, Jordan Watkins, plus Bosa, Buckner, Robinson, George Kittle and Brock Purdy. Inactive lists post at 11:55 a.m. Pacific.

Sam KezarNov 8, 20264 min read

49ers Notebook

Christian Kirk hurt his meniscus, and surgery is still undecided

Christian Kirk hurt his meniscus, Kyle Shanahan said Friday, and the 49ers have not decided whether he needs surgery. Kirk, Mike Evans and Deebo Samuel are out Sunday against Las Vegas. Shanahan said Demarcus Robinson will most likely be activated off injured reserve, and Nick Bosa and Christian McCaffrey are cleared to play.

Sam KezarNov 6, 20263 min read

49ers Notebook

Christian Kirk missed practice Thursday, and the 49ers need Demarcus Robinson

Christian Kirk did not practice Thursday with a knee injury, a day after he was limited. Mike Evans and Deebo Samuel sat out again, and John Lynch said Evans probably will not play Sunday against Las Vegas. Demarcus Robinson was limited for a second day, Christian McCaffrey returned as a limited participant, and Lynch described how the Jauan Jennings trade came apart.

Sam KezarNov 5, 20263 min read

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49ers Notebook

Nick Bosa and DeForest Buckner practiced together for the first time since 2020

Nick Bosa returned to practice as a limited participant Wednesday, his first work since a Sept. 24 calf strain, alongside DeForest Buckner. The 49ers opened practice windows for Demarcus Robinson and Nate Hobbs, Christian McCaffrey, Deebo Samuel, Mike Evans and Trent Williams did not practice, and Kyle Shanahan said Jauan Jennings did get on a FaceTime call before the Minnesota trade fell through.

Sam KezarNov 4, 20263 min read

Roster

Nate Hobbs Made The 53 On Sunday And Went On Injured Reserve On Monday

The 49ers placed cornerback Nate Hobbs and linebacker Nick Martin on injured reserve Monday and re-signed safety Ashtyn Davis and punter Corliss Waitman to one-year deals. Because Hobbs and Martin were placed the day after the initial roster was set rather than during the cut to it, neither needed one of the two return designations San Francisco had already spent on Christian Kirk and Austen Pleasants, and neither is finished for the year. Both must miss at least the first four games. The earliest either can play is October 11 at Seattle. Matt Maiocco wrote on Sunday that both placements were coming Monday. San Francisco claimed nobody on waivers and lost cornerback Darrell Luter Jr. to Las Vegas and defensive lineman Bryson Eason to Kansas City. Thirteen players are on the practice squad, including long snapper Jon Weeks, who is not on the active roster.

Sam KezarAug 31, 20265 min read

Called Shots

Jalen Stroman Played Every Defensive Snap And More Special Teams Than Anybody

Six calls on San Francisco's initial 53-man roster, due Sunday at 3 p.m. Pacific. In: Jalen Stroman, who played all 66 defensive snaps and 21 on special teams against the Raiders, the most of any 49er; Nate Hobbs; and Jacob Cowing, already on the ledger since August 23. Out: Jordan Watkins, who played 53 of 61 offensive snaps and touched the ball nine ways; Ashtyn Davis; and Ogbo Okoronkwo, already on the ledger since August 5. Every call scores off the club's announced initial 53 and nothing else. A man placed on injured reserve from that list counts as having made it.

Sam KezarAug 29, 20266 min read

On the record

Called Shots →

Held upAug 1, 2026

On 2026-09-10, at least three of the wide receivers on San Francisco's active roster are men the 49ers' own roster page lists at age 30 or older. Method, fixed in advance: read 49ers.com/team/players-roster on 2026-09-10, count the players listed at position WR on the active roster, and use the age the club's page states for each. Players on injured reserve, the practice squad or any reserve list do not count.

The room on 2026-08-01 lists five receivers at 30 or older by the club's own page: Mike Evans (32), Demarcus Robinson (31), Deebo Samuel Sr. (30), Trenton Irwin (30) and Malik Turner (30). Evans and Samuel are effectively decided, so this call turns on whether a third veteran holds a spot over Jacob Cowing, Jordan Watkins or De'Zhaun Stribling. It is not a formality in either direction: the 49ers spent the 33rd pick and two roster spots on receivers under 26, and the honest case against my own call is that Robinson, Irwin and Turner are all special-teams and depth arguments rather than offensive ones. This grades the piece's thesis, that a room built to answer a durability history with age keeps having to answer it with more age.

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49ers Deep Dive

The 49ers ran Las Vegas out of its plan before they took the ball away

San Francisco beat Las Vegas 38-17 on Sunday and is 7-1. The five second-half takeaways will be remembered, but the game was settled earlier. The 49ers' first three drives went 37 plays and 242 yards, took 19 minutes and 23 seconds and ended in touchdowns, and San Francisco ran 25 times for 125 yards before halftime. Las Vegas had the ball for 71 seconds in the first 13 minutes. Trailing by 11 at the half, the Raiders ran six times and threw 24 times after it, and Klint Kubiak said that being in position to throw on every down produces interceptions. The pass rush did not cause the turnovers: Cousins was hit twice on eight first-half throws and four times on 24 second-half throws. Two takeaways were punched out of receivers' hands, and one came off a fumbled exchange. The second half also showed a cost. San Francisco threw an interception, was stopped on fourth-and-1 at its own 40, and allowed 222 kickoff-return yards, and Las Vegas started three drives in 49ers territory. The game moved San Francisco's season turnover margin from minus-3 to plus-1. Las Vegas has now allowed 30 or more points six weeks running, so Dallas on Sunday is the first test of whether the formula holds.

Sam KezarNov 10, 20266 min read

49ers Notebook

The 49ers trade a sixth-round pick for Keenan Allen

San Francisco acquired wide receiver Keenan Allen from Indianapolis on Tuesday, deadline day, for a 2027 sixth-round pick, the league transaction wire shows. It is the second trade between the clubs in three weeks, after DeForest Buckner on Oct. 27. Allen, 34, played at Cal and is a six-time Pro Bowler with 1,095 career catches, eighth all time. He had 40 catches for 351 yards and one touchdown in eight games for the Colts, their team lead. The club placed Gracen Halton on injured reserve with a fractured ankle the same afternoon, and its roster page showed 52 on the active roster before Allen was added. Allen joins a receiver room missing Mike Evans and Deebo Samuel Sr. last Sunday. He caught four passes for 26 yards against Dallas in Week 9, and the 49ers play at Dallas on Sunday.

Sam KezarNov 10, 20263 min read

Takeaways

Five takeaways in one half, and the 49ers never sacked Kirk Cousins

San Francisco beat Las Vegas 38-17 at Levi's Stadium on Sunday and is 7-1. The 49ers scored touchdowns on their first three possessions, did not punt, and ran 43 times for 190 yards. Las Vegas turned the ball over on five of its six second-half possessions: Jaden Dugger's 35-yard interception return on the first play of the half, two forced fumbles, and interceptions by Renardo Green and Malik Mustapha. The official game book credits San Francisco with no sacks and six quarterback hits, two of them on the plays Green and Mustapha intercepted. Nick Bosa played 39 of 50 defensive snaps in his first game since Sept. 20, and DeForest Buckner played 34. Jordan Watkins caught all four of his targets for 86 yards and his first NFL touchdown. Christian McCaffrey's 12-yard catch set the Super Bowl-era record for touchdown catches by a running back and was Brock Purdy's 100th touchdown pass. Gracen Halton broke his ankle and is out for the season, Shanahan said; Green (back) and Deommodore Lenoir (foot) did not return.

Sam KezarNov 9, 20265 min read

Earlier on the 49ers

49ers Pregame

Evans is a Monday decision, and without him the 53 has three healthy receivers

San Francisco hosts Washington on Monday night at Levi's Stadium, 5:15 p.m. Pacific, on ESPN and ABC. Deebo Samuel is out with a hamstring and Mike Evans did not practice all week with ribs and an Achilles, which leaves Brandin Cooks, Jacob Cowing and Jordan Watkins as the receivers on the 53 without a designation. Christian Kirk is in his practice window off injured reserve and Shanahan would say only that activating him is possible. Nick Bosa sits a fourth straight game. Washington arrives 1-3-1 with Jayden Daniels back from an elbow injury, its leading rusher out, and its backup quarterback out.

Sam KezarOct 19, 20264 min read

Game Week

The 49ers rested four veterans Wednesday, and three were full a day later

San Francisco filed its first official Week 2 injury report this week, and eleven 49ers were on it. Six did not practise Wednesday and four of those six were rest days: Nick Bosa, Dre Greenlaw, Christian McCaffrey and Trent Williams. By Thursday, Greenlaw, McCaffrey and Williams were full participants and Bosa was limited. The two men who have not practised either day are Eddy Piñeiro, who is ill, and De'Zhaun Stribling, whose ankle needed surgery. Kaelon Black joined the report Thursday with a groin. Every man on Thursday's report played against the Rams in Melbourne.

Sam KezarSep 17, 20265 min read

The rookie

The Right Denominator For De'Zhaun Stribling's First Game Is Twenty-Six, Not Sixty-Five

De'Zhaun Stribling, the wide receiver San Francisco took with the 33rd pick in April, was hurt in his first professional game and the 49ers have published nothing about him since. The official participation report has him at 21 offensive snaps of 65, which is 32 percent. Counted against the 26 plays from scrimmage San Francisco ran before the snap he was injured on, it is 21 of 26, or 81 percent. The count reconciles to 65 at the end of the game once the second-quarter roughing-the-passer penalty is included, which is the check on it. He was not targeted on any of the 21. Six 49ers receivers took an offensive snap in Melbourne: Mike Evans 49, Demarcus Robinson 41, Deebo Samuel 27, Stribling 21, Jacob Cowing 5 and KhaDarel Hodge 1. Tight end Luke Farrell played 46, more than every receiver but Evans, and fullback Kyle Juszczyk played 33, more than Samuel. Four of the five other receivers who played are 30 or older. Kyle Shanahan said after the game that the Achilles was checked and intact and that the club was not sure of the magnitude of the ankle injury; further testing waited on the flight home, which David Bonilla of 49ers Webzone clocked at 13 hours 46 minutes, landing at SFO at 3:06 p.m. Friday. San Francisco's next game is Miami at Levi's Stadium on Sunday, September 20, at 1:25 p.m. Pacific, and the 49ers traded down twice in April, first with Miami, to reach the pick they spent on Stribling. No take filed.

Grant LombardSep 13, 20264 min read