
San Francisco carries EXACTLY TWO quarterbacks on its initial 53-man roster on Sunday, August 30. Three or more quarterbacks on that roster grades this WRONG.
Kyle Shanahan confirmed on Tuesday that Kurtis Rourke broke three ribs in the preseason opener, twelve days after the club said the X-rays taken in the stadium showed nothing broken and sent him to hospital for more imaging. Rourke does not play in Thursday's finale at Las Vegas and Adrian Martinez takes the last game of the third quarterback competition. Shanahan also named Christian Kirk and Vederian Lowe as candidates to open the regular season on injured reserve, a designation that costs each of them at least the first four games and costs San Francisco a roster spot on Sunday; said Dominick Puni is most likely back in the concussion protocol; put Nick Bosa, Jacob Cowing, Upton Stout and Mike Evans back at practice next week rather than this one; and left the left guard job to Connor Colby and Carver Willis with Robert Jones hurt. The club signed defensive lineman Jah Joyner on Thursday morning and placed Victor Dimukeje on injured reserve to make room.

San Francisco practised for the last time in training camp on Tuesday morning and Kyle Shanahan said afterwards that the left guard competition is close to being decided between Connor Colby and Carver Willis, with Robert Jones removed from it by a calf injury Shanahan put at around the Australia trip. Matt Maiocco had Willis taking the first-team snaps. Dominick Puni practised and then reported residual symptoms and is most likely back in the concussion protocol. Shanahan named Christian Kirk and Vederian Lowe as possible candidates to start the season on injured reserve, hedging both. Mike Evans, Jacob Cowing, Upton Stout, Romello Height, Kyle Juszczyk, Kirk, Kurtis Rourke and Nick Bosa did not practise across two published absence lists that do not match. Height's injury is an ankle and Juszczyk's finger is fractured. The 49ers play at Las Vegas on Thursday at 5:00 p.m. PDT and the roster is due at 53 at 3:00 p.m. PT on Sunday.

Jack Jones, No. 25, and Marques Sigle, No. 36, were in uniform for Saturday's 11:50 a.m. practice, two days after leaving the preseason opener with a hand and an oblique. Jacob Cowing, No. 6, was too. Christian McCaffrey (tightness), Nick Bosa (soreness and tendinitis in the surgically repaired knee) and Kurtis Rourke (ribs) did not practise. No transaction has been announced since August 12 on the club's own log and August 13 on ESPN's, and the roster sits at 90 chargeable players against a limit of 90, counted table by table on Saturday afternoon. Thursday's running backs carried 23 times for 52 yards. Nothing on the 53-man projection crossed the cut line.

The 49ers lost their preseason opener 19-13 to Tennessee on Thursday night. Second-round rookie De'Zhaun Stribling caught seven of his eight targets for 63 yards. Kurtis Rourke started at quarterback, completed 12 of 14 passes, and was taken to a hospital with a rib injury that stadium X-rays did not show as a break. Robert Jones started at left guard and Connor Colby started at right guard. Four running backs carried 23 times for 52 yards. Nine takeaways from a game that produced no touchdown passes on 44 attempts.

The 49ers worked out three defensive backs on Friday, per David Bonilla off the NFL's daily transaction report, with Nate Hobbs out a few weeks, Jack Jones nursing a hand and Marques Sigle an oblique. Bryce Hall and Corey Mayfield Jr. were teammates on the UFL champion Louisville Kings, and Troy Pride Jr. was a fourth-round pick in the same 2020 draft that took Hall in the fifth. No signing had been announced by mid-afternoon, and the roster has been full for ten days. Kurtis Rourke was released from the hospital Thursday night and no result of his further imaging has been published. The first snap counts of the preseason put Robert Jones and Connor Colby on opposite sides of the centre for all 44 first-unit snaps, and Jordan Watkins on the field for 58 while Jacob Cowing took none.
