Grab Some Pine Pull up a bench. Bay Area sports, Michigan, and a model or two.
Aug 27, 2026
49ers
Camp Notebook

Kurtis Rourke Has Three Broken Ribs And Does Not Play Tonight

The X-ray taken at Levi's Stadium on August 13 found nothing broken. The imaging done at the hospital that night found three, and Kyle Shanahan said so twelve days later. Rourke misses the preseason finale at Las Vegas, which leaves Adrian Martinez alone in the third quarterback competition on the last night anybody gets to watch. Also: two 49ers are candidates to open the season on injured reserve, the starting right guard is most likely back in the concussion protocol, and the roster is due Sunday at 3:00 p.m. PT.

SK
Sam KezarAug 27, 20263 min read
Every call on this site goes on a public ledger and gets graded. The misses stay up.
Kurtis Rourke throwing during a 49ers practice at the club's Santa Clara facility, in a red non-contact quarterback jersey with the number 14 on the chest, staff and teammates out of focus behind him.

Kurtis Rourke broke three ribs in San Francisco's preseason opener on August 13. Kyle Shanahan said so on Tuesday, twelve days later, per David Bonilla at 49ers Webzone.

The account that stood until then said something else. Rourke left the Tennessee game in the second quarter, went to the locker room with the medical staff, and was taken to hospital at halftime because he was struggling to breathe. Shanahan, that night: "X-rays in here didn't show it was broken or anything, but you know, we'll see what we find out tomorrow." Rourke was released from the hospital before morning, and the club's injury lists carried him as a rib for the next eleven days.

He does not play Thursday at Las Vegas. The third quarterback job was one of the few things this game was going to settle, and it now gets settled with one man on the field. Adrian Martinez threw the rest of the Tennessee night after Rourke left, threw at the Chargers on August 20, and takes the finale alone.

Two men are candidates to start the season on injured reserve. Shanahan, asked directly on Tuesday whether Christian Kirk was one: "Possibly." Asked immediately afterwards about Vederian Lowe, he said yes. That designation costs a player the first four games at minimum, and it only works for somebody who makes the initial 53 first, so a Kirk or Lowe decision Sunday spends a roster spot rather than saving one. "We've got a number of guys like that," Shanahan said, "so we've got to just see how that pans out here over the next few days."

Dominick Puni is most likely back in the concussion protocol. The starting right guard cleared it, returned to practice Tuesday, and reported residual symptoms afterwards. He is the second of San Francisco's five projected starting linemen to be unavailable this week.

Left guard is Connor Colby and Carver Willis, and the coach said the game decides it. From the club's own Day 17 recap: "It's close to being decided, and it needs to be close. Today is the second-to-last day that we'll get to evaluate. We'll get it on the game." Robert Jones is still part of that competition on Shanahan's own account and has a calf. He does not play Thursday either.

Nick Bosa returns to practice next week, if he returns. Shanahan: "Hoping that he can get into practice next week and we'll see how those three days go after the mandatory three days off." Bonilla has the injury as tendinitis in the surgically repaired knee; the club's Tuesday list says soreness. Both accounts are on the record and neither has replaced the other.

Next week is after the cut. Jacob Cowing's groin, Upton Stout's hip flexor and Mike Evans's groin all carry the same return window, which lands past Sunday afternoon. Evans plans to play in Week 1 regardless, per Jeremy Fowler at ESPN on August 26, who called the groin minor barring a change.

George Kittle has practised twice since coming off the physically-unable-to-perform list. Both times in non-competitive periods only: routes on air, work with the quarterbacks and the offensive line. Rejoining team drills is next week's question.

Malik Mustapha did individual work on the side Tuesday. The second safety job beside Ji'Ayir Brown is open and Marques Sigle has been taking it.

Transactions. San Francisco signed defensive lineman Jah Joyner to a one-year deal Thursday at 11:12 a.m. PT and placed Victor Dimukeje on injured reserve to make room, per the club's release. Joyner is 25, out of Minnesota, and entered the league as an undrafted free agent with Las Vegas in May 2025. Dimukeje signed here ten days ago. A player placed on injured reserve before the cutdown cannot play this season, so that is his year.

Kickoff at Allegiant Stadium is 5:00 p.m. PT. Then three mandatory days off, then the roster on Sunday at 3:00 p.m. PT, then three practices before the flight to Melbourne.

Sources: David Bonilla, 49ers Webzone, August 25 and August 26; the 49ers' own Day 17 training camp recap, August 25; the club's roster release, August 27; Will Simonds, NBC Sports Bay Area, August 13; Jeremy Fowler, ESPN, August 26.

Filed under 49ers

More on Connor Colby

His page →
Week 1 Takeaways

San Francisco Stopped The Rams On Fourth And One At Its Own 1, Then Drove 99 Yards

The 49ers opened 1-0 with a 27-7 win over the Rams at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Thursday evening in the Bay Area and Friday morning in Australia. Los Angeles reached the San Francisco 1 in the third quarter and turned the ball over on downs; San Francisco answered with an 11-play, 99-yard touchdown drive. Connor Colby started at left guard and the whole line played every snap, George Kittle played 30 of 65 in his return, Kaelon Black carried more often than Christian McCaffrey, and De'Zhaun Stribling started at receiver without being thrown to. Nine takeaways off the official game book.

Sam KezarSep 11, 20265 min read
San Francisco Stopped The Rams On Fourth And One At Its Own 1, Then Drove 99 Yards
Depth Chart

Connor Colby And Kaelon Black Fill The Two Jobs Shanahan Called Fluid

San Francisco's public depth chart carried an empty box at left guard from August 27 until this week. Read at 2:52 p.m. Pacific on Sunday, it is stamped 09/4/26 and lists Connor Colby first at left guard and Carver Willis second. It also lists Kaelon Black second at running back ahead of Jordan James, which is the other job Kyle Shanahan called fluid on August 31, and George Kittle and Nick Bosa as starters. Colby was the incumbent in July, was passed by Robert Jones and then by Willis in August, and is first again on the club's own page. Jarrett Patterson, traded for to compete at guard, is listed second at center. The chart predates three roster moves and has one empty box left, at long snapper. The first Melbourne practice is Sunday at 7:50 p.m. Pacific.

Sam KezarSep 6, 20264 min read
Connor Colby And Kaelon Black Fill The Two Jobs Shanahan Called Fluid
Camp Battles

The 49ers Have Two Depth Charts And Only One Of Them Has A Left Guard

The depth chart at 49ers.com carries twenty-nine position rows and a name in the first column of twenty-eight of them. Left guard is the twenty-ninth, its first column is empty, and the page stamps itself August 27, which was eight days ago. A separate one-page sheet dated September 2 lists Connor Colby first at left guard and Carver Willis second, and the club does not publish it: the media site its own pronunciation guide points to refuses a request from outside. Kyle Madson of Niners Wire reports that the sheet is assembled by the communications staff with no input from the coaches and binds nobody. Kyle Shanahan said on August 31 that he did not know who starts, and nothing since has replaced that. Seven of the seventy-two men still named on the club's live chart are on the September 2 sheet's injured reserve list, three of them offensive linemen.

Grant LombardSep 4, 20265 min read
The 49ers Have Two Depth Charts And Only One Of Them Has A Left Guard

More on Jacob Cowing

His page →
The rookie receiver

De'Zhaun Stribling Is Out At Least A Month, And Injured Reserve Would Cost At Most One Game More

De'Zhaun Stribling has a deltoid sprain in his ankle and is out at least a month, Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reported Sunday morning; the rookie is still seeking opinions and may need surgery, though none is planned. San Francisco has filed nothing: read at 4:50 p.m. Pacific Sunday, the club's transaction log still ends on September 10 and Stribling is still on the Active table. The reported month rules him out of Miami on September 20, Arizona on September 27 and Denver on October 4 whether he goes on injured reserve or not. The four-game minimum that comes with the designation adds at most one more, October 11 at Lumen Field, and Christian Kirk becomes eligible to return from injured reserve for that same game. The first club document that has to say anything is Wednesday's injury report; Nick Avila of NBC Sports Bay Area reported that the players do not practise until then. Behind Stribling the active roster carries Mike Evans, Demarcus Robinson, Deebo Samuel, Jacob Cowing and Jordan Watkins, and Watkins was inactive in Melbourne. One take filed, priced at -120.

Sam KezarSep 13, 20264 min read
De'Zhaun Stribling Is Out At Least A Month, And Injured Reserve Would Cost At Most One Game More
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
The Right Denominator For De'Zhaun Stribling's First Game Is Twenty-Six, Not Sixty-Five
Practice Notebook

Nick Bosa And Christian McCaffrey Did No Drills In The Open Portion Of The First Melbourne Practice

Nick Bosa and Christian McCaffrey did not take part in drills during the portion of San Francisco's first Melbourne practice open to reporters, per Matt Maiocco at NBC Sports Bay Area and Matt Barrows at The Athletic. San Francisco plays the Rams at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Thursday at 5:35 p.m. Pacific. Reporters leave before team drills, and the club was not required to file a participation report, so what either man did after that is not public. Shanahan said the time difference meant he did not have to talk about injuries until the following day, and did not. George Kittle and Mike Evans practised. Barrows listed six men back from injury: Renardo Green, Romello Height, Jacob Cowing, Vederian Lowe, Gracen Halton and Luke Gifford. Five of the six who sat out the September 2 practice in Santa Clara are on that list; James Thompson Jr. is on no list either way. The club named eight captains, all eight returning from 2025, and Bosa and McCaffrey are two of them. Brayden Willis is back on the practice squad, which now sits at seventeen.

Sam KezarSep 7, 20265 min read
Nick Bosa And Christian McCaffrey Did No Drills In The Open Portion Of The First Melbourne Practice

On the record

Called Shots →
Held upJul 27, 2026

Connor Colby is the 49ers' starting left guard in the Week 1 game against the Los Angeles Rams on 2026-09-10. Scored off the official starting lineup for that game: Colby listed at left guard is a hit, any other player listed at left guard is a miss, including if Colby is unavailable through injury.

Made in the Camp Battles left guard primer. The basis is incumbency plus the calendar: Colby took all of the first-team left guard reps at the opening practice (Wagoner, ESPN, Jul 26), has roughly 450 snaps in this offense from six starts as a rookie, and Robert Jones has none while coming off a 2025 season lost to a neck injury. The call is genuinely at risk, and the falsifier is named in the piece: Jones opening the August 13 preseason game against Tennessee with the starters. Hurley's Niners Nation board already has Jones starting and Colby at backup right guard.

Latest on the 49ers

The whole beat →
Week 2 Analysis

Opponents have reached the 49ers' red zone five times and scored one touchdown

Two days after the 35-13 win over Miami, the two game books describe a defense that is hard to finish against and easy to move against. Opponents have gained 5.1 yards a play in both games and reached the San Francisco 20 five times for one touchdown. Miami spent 19:17 on its first three possessions and got six points, twice reaching goal to go and twice kicking. San Francisco's first four sacks of the season came either inside its own red zone or with a lead of 15 or more, and Nick Bosa is credited with none of them, and with no quarterback hit either, on 40 of 59 defensive snaps. PFF's charting of the same game puts him ahead of every other 49er in total pressures.

Sam KezarSep 22, 20266 min read
Opponents have reached the 49ers' red zone five times and scored one touchdown
49ers Takeaways

Week 2 takeaways: five touchdowns before San Francisco's first punt

San Francisco is 2-0 after a 35-13 win over Miami in the home opener. The 49ers scored touchdowns on their first five drives and did not punt until 10:38 of the fourth quarter. Purdy was 20 of 22 for 287 yards and two touchdowns with a 149.1 rating and no sack taken. The defense recorded four sacks after none in Week 1, from Marques Sigle, Keion White, Romello Height and a Warner-Stout split, none from Bosa. Miami had first and goal twice and came away with six points. Eddy Piñeiro, the kicker the week was spent on, attempted no field goal.

Sam KezarSep 21, 20265 min read
Week 2 takeaways: five touchdowns before San Francisco's first punt
49ers Roster

The 49ers won by 22 and came out of it needing a receiver and a lineman

Shanahan's Monday conference call produced four injury verdicts. Robinson and Thompson Jr. both have high-ankle sprains at three to six weeks, Robinson most likely to injured reserve. Height broke his hand and has surgery Tuesday, with an outside chance of playing at Arizona. Mike Evans has a hip that will be managed through the week. The receiver room is down to five men on the active roster with three on injured reserve, and the defensive line has now lost three players in two games. Shanahan, asked on Sunday about Leonard Floyd, said the club has already made calls.

Sam KezarSep 21, 20264 min read
The 49ers won by 22 and came out of it needing a receiver and a lineman

Earlier on the 49ers

Camp Notebook

Nick Bosa Practised For The First Time Since August 3

Nick Bosa practised Wednesday for the first time since August 3, in individual drills and in team periods, per Nick Wagoner at ESPN. It is his first full practice since he tore the right anterior cruciate ligament in Week 3 of last season. He said afterwards that once a session reaches team work there is no governor on it, and that he is confident about Week 1. Ian Rapoport reported Wednesday morning that Bosa and George Kittle both travel to Australia. Kittle has now had three straight days of team work, dated to Monday by John Lynch. Six players sat out, three fewer than Tuesday: Renardo Green, Jacob Cowing, Luke Gifford, Gracen Halton, Romello Height and James Thompson Jr. Jack Jones was on neither list and did no work with the team. Left guard is still not named. The club hosted defensive tackle McKinnley Jackson on a visit and signed nobody.

Sam KezarSep 2, 20264 min read
Nick Bosa Practised For The First Time Since August 3
Preseason Analysis

Alfred Collins Is Named Once In The Entire Play-By-Play

The film-and-grades read of San Francisco's 18-12 win at Las Vegas on Thursday, player by player. Alfred Collins played 29 of 66 defensive snaps and appears once in the game book's play-by-play, on an assisted tackle. PFF's four lowest-graded 49ers defenders in the game all played defensive tackle, and both San Francisco sacks came from edge men. Enrique Cruz Jr. played all 61 offensive snaps at left tackle. Carver Willis graded last among the 22 San Francisco offensive players PFF graded, and the split behind it is run blocking rather than pass protection, which is what Willis himself has said the problem is. Khalil Herbert graded highest on offense on 12 snaps. Darrell Luter Jr. started at corner, played 51 snaps and graded second among all San Francisco defenders.

Sam KezarAug 29, 20266 min read
Alfred Collins Is Named Once In The Entire Play-By-Play
Training camp

Twenty-One Locks, Twelve Arguments, And One Australian With A Visa

The 49ers open camp with 21 roster locks and no quarterback drama. What is left is twelve genuinely open jobs, and the best story among them belongs to a rookie punter with excellent timing.

Grab Some PineJul 25, 20266 min read
Twenty-One Locks, Twelve Arguments, And One Australian With A Visa