49ers
Game Week

San Francisco won by 20 without a sack. Miami gave up five.

Kickoff is 1:25 p.m. Pacific at Levi's Stadium on FOX. The 49ers are 1-0 and got eight quarterback hits without a sack in Melbourne. The Dolphins are 0-1, start the youngest roster in the league, and gave up five sacks at Las Vegas. Eddy Piñeiro is questionable after three days away from practice, and San Francisco carries one kicker.

SK
Sam KezarSep 20, 20264 min read
Every call on this site goes on a public ledger and gets graded. The misses stay up.
Nick Bosa photographed from the chest up on a field after a game, grinning, hair and beard wet, his white 49ers road jersey streaked with mud and grass. The red 97 and the 49ERS wordmark are legible, and the NFL 100 patch at the collar dates the photograph to the 2019 season. Empty red stadium seats behind him.

San Francisco plays Miami at Levi's Stadium on Sunday at 1:25 p.m. Pacific, on FOX, with the radio call on KSFO 810 AM and KSAN 107.7 FM. That is off the club's schedule page and ESPN's, both read at 5:11 a.m. Sunday. The 49ers are 1-0 after beating the Rams 27-7 in Melbourne. The Dolphins are 0-1 after losing 27-13 at Las Vegas.

The defense that won the opener never got to the quarterback. San Francisco's row on the game book's Final Defensive Statistics page reads zero sacks, eight quarterback hits and two tackles for loss across 61 defensive snaps. Osa Odighizuwa had four of the eight hits. Nick Bosa had one, plus both tackles for loss, on 36 of the 61 snaps.

Miami's line is where that pressure goes this week. Malik Willis was sacked five times at Las Vegas and the Dolphins converted two of ten third downs.

The kicker, which is still the live question#

Eddy Piñeiro is questionable with an illness. He did not practice Wednesday, Thursday or Friday, per the club's final Week 2 injury report, filed by Brooke Evans at 4:46 p.m. Friday. Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area reported Saturday afternoon that the 49ers expect him to play.

San Francisco worked out Younghoe Koo and Greg Joseph on Saturday, per Maiocco, and signed neither. That was not the stated plan. Kyle Shanahan said Friday the club intended to add a kicker to the practice squad as a contingency. The transaction page, read at 5:12 a.m. Sunday, still ends on September 16.

So Piñeiro is the whole kicking plan. He took 12 of the 20 special-teams snaps in Melbourne and scored nine of San Francisco's 27 points. The inactive list posts 90 minutes before kickoff.

Injuries, and the one that changed after the report closed#

De'Zhaun Stribling was listed OUT with an ankle on Friday's report. On Saturday at 1:59 p.m. the club went further and placed him on injured reserve, promoting defensive lineman Ogbo Okoronkwo to the active roster in the same release. Injured reserve costs a player four games, so the rookie receiver returns in Week 6 at the earliest.

Kaelon Black is questionable with a groin. Shanahan on him, in his weekly KNBR interview, as David Bonilla rendered it at 49ers Webzone on Thursday: "I think we're just being smart with him. He was a little tight today, so we didn't push him too hard."

Twelve 49ers are on the report and three carry a designation: Stribling, Piñeiro and Black. The other nine are clear. Bosa, Dre Greenlaw, Christian McCaffrey and Trent Williams were rested rather than hurt on Wednesday and full after it. George Kittle and Kyle Juszczyk were limited twice, then full Friday. Kittle, on the Achilles he tore in January: "I'm so confident in my Achilles, the calf, the whole thing. There's been zero setbacks."

Miami is without Ronnie Harrison, hamstring, and Chop Robinson, concussion, both listed as linebackers and both OUT.

What Shanahan is worried about#

Not the record. Miami starts the youngest roster in the league by average age, 25.5, with 13 rookies on the active list and seven of them starting in Week 1. Rookie receiver Caleb Douglas led them with 94 yards in the opener.

Shanahan's worry is narrower, and he gave it to Maiocco this week. It is Willis running, and the carries De'Von Achane gets once a defense has to account for the quarterback. "How you rush them, how you play each run play, you never know when he's gonna pull it and go," Shanahan said. On Achane: "I knew he was good, I knew he was really good. But he's even better than I thought."

Willis ran for 39 yards and a touchdown at Las Vegas. Achane took 11 carries for 36.

Ten to watch#

Nobody spent the week on the offensive line, which played every down. Brendel, Colby, Puni, McKivitz and Williams each took all 65 snaps, and the club's roster page has Williams in his 17th season. He is the one the staff sat down on Wednesday.

Sources: 49ers.com schedule, injury report and transactions pages, read Sunday morning; the official NFL game book for San Francisco at Los Angeles, Week 1; Matt Maiocco, NBC Sports Bay Area; Marc Adams and David Bonilla, 49ers Webzone; Brooke Evans, 49ers.com; ESPN team statistics and schedules.

Filed under 49ers

More on Carver Willis

His page →
49ers Roster

San Francisco Promoted A Fourth Tight End And Worked Out Three More

San Francisco promoted tight end Brayden Willis from the practice squad to the active roster on Tuesday morning and signed defensive lineman McKinnley Jackson to the practice squad. The promotion fills the roster spot Alfred Collins vacated on September 10 and puts the active roster back at 53. Hours later the NFL's transaction report showed the club had worked out five players, three of them tight ends. Jake Tonges, who played eight snaps in Melbourne before he was hurt, remains on the active roster with no injury designation and no published imaging result, and the club's Week 2 injury report does not exist yet. Willis has played 23 regular-season games, all with the 49ers, and has no career receptions.

Sam KezarSep 15, 20264 min read
San Francisco Promoted A Fourth Tight End And Worked Out Three More
49ers Notebook

George Kittle Started And Played 30 Snaps. Luke Farrell Did Not Start And Played 46.

The NFL's official game book for Week 1 puts George Kittle at 30 of San Francisco's 65 offensive snaps and 46 percent, Luke Farrell at 46 snaps and 71 percent, and Jake Tonges at eight snaps and 12 percent before he was hurt. Farrell also played 18 of the 49ers' 20 special-teams snaps, the highest special-teams snap share of any San Francisco player in the game. Kittle started; Farrell did not. Shanahan's postgame words on Tonges were an MCL with no timetable, and as of 2:50 p.m. Pacific Monday the club's transaction log still ends on September 10, Tonges is still on the active roster page, and the Week 2 injury report page carries no San Francisco table. The only other tight ends the club employs, Khalil Dinkins and Brayden Willis, are on the practice squad.

Sam KezarSep 14, 20264 min read
George Kittle Started And Played 30 Snaps. Luke Farrell Did Not Start And Played 46.
49ers Notebook

Fred Warner Is The 49ers' Career Tackle Leader, On The Column That Counts Assists

Fred Warner became San Francisco's all-time leading tackler in the second quarter of the season opener in Melbourne, passing Patrick Willis, who held the franchise record at 950. Warner entered the season at 948 and finished the game at 959 in 122 games. The record is kept on combined tackles, solo plus assisted, and on solo tackles alone Willis still leads him 733 to 602. Kyle Shanahan gave an MCL for Jake Tonges and an ankle for De'Zhaun Stribling with no timetable on either, and the club has filed no transaction on either man.

Sam KezarSep 11, 20264 min read
Fred Warner Is The 49ers' Career Tackle Leader, On The Column That Counts Assists

More on Osa Odighizuwa

His page →
Game Week

Nobody San Francisco Added Thursday Plays Defensive Tackle

San Francisco placed DL Alfred Collins on injured reserve and activated WR KhaDarel Hodge and DL Ogbo Okoronkwo from its practice squad as standard elevations, all three moves in one release published at 1:53 p.m. Pacific on Thursday, three hours and forty-two minutes before the season opener against the Los Angeles Rams at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Hodge and Okoronkwo revert to the practice squad after the game, and a standard elevation is capped at three per player per season. Neither plays defensive tackle. The club's depth chart, stamped September 8 and labelled unofficial, lists four men at the two tackle spots: Osa Odighizuwa at 280 pounds and C.J. West at 316 on the left, Collins and then rookies Gracen Halton at 293 and James Thompson Jr. at 308 on the right. Thompson was Questionable with a hamstring, the only game designation San Francisco issued for the opener. The inactive lists resolved it: six San Francisco names, none of them a defensive lineman, and Thompson dresses. That leaves right defensive tackle to two rookies. The report the club distributed at 12:23 a.m. Pacific has Halton at full participation for the last Melbourne practice; the table on the club's own injury-report page, read at 2:51 p.m., still showed him limited and left his injury column blank. The practice squad holds three defensive linemen heavier than Okoronkwo's 253 pounds, including Kevin Givens, the man the club waived on August 5 to sign Hodge and Okoronkwo. Counted in a browser at 2:53 p.m. Pacific, the roster page carried 54 on Active, 12 on injured reserve, two on Reserve/Physically Unable to Perform and 15 on the practice squad, which puts 52 players on a roster that may hold 53. The Active table held eight defensive linemen. The transaction log still ended on September 5. One take filed.

Sam KezarSep 10, 20264 min read
Nobody San Francisco Added Thursday Plays Defensive Tackle
Camp Battles

The 49ers Need Alfred Collins Against The Run, And PFF Ranks Him Near The Bottom There

Alfred Collins, No. 95, was activated off the PUP list at the end of July after offseason shoulder surgery and is expected to line up next to Osa Odighizuwa. Tennessee ran 31 times for 167 yards in the preseason opener. PFF's grades from that game rank Collins last among the 49ers' defensive linemen against the run, and its 2025 rankings put him 127th of 133 qualifying interior linemen in the same category while ranking him 76th of 137 as a pass rusher. The club published no participation report for the opener, so no official snap counts exist. Monday was a closed walk-through with no media availability.

Sam KezarAug 17, 20265 min read
The 49ers Need Alfred Collins Against The Run, And PFF Ranks Him Near The Bottom There

On the record

Called Shots →
Held upAug 5, 2026

Connor Colby is listed as San Francisco's starting left guard in the official starting lineup of the 49ers' Week 1 game against the Los Angeles Rams on 2026-09-10. If Robert Jones, Carver Willis, Brett Toth or anybody else starts there, the take is scored wrong.

Filed on the day the reporting went the other way, which is the point of filing it today. David Lombardi had Robert Jones taking the first-team left guard reps at the August 5 practice, the first published rep at the position since July 26. Chris Foerster's own explanation for it was that the staff wanted to keep moving Colby around, including at right guard, and that Carver Willis in concussion protocol and an undisclosed injury to Brett Toth limited that plan. So the alignment was a consequence of two absences rather than a decision about Colby, and the only unforced statement anybody has made about this competition is still Foerster's from the opening Sunday, when Colby took all the first-team reps and nobody had done anything to beat him out. What would make me wrong: Jones holding the first-team reps once Willis and Toth are back.

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

Practice Notebook

San Francisco will sign a kicker on Saturday, and it has not worked one out

San Francisco filed its final Week 2 injury report after Friday's practice with three game designations on it: De'Zhaun Stribling out, Eddy Piñeiro and Kaelon Black questionable. Piñeiro has not practised since the Melbourne game week ended, and the club's roster page carried no second kicker anywhere on Friday afternoon. Kyle Shanahan said San Francisco will add one on Saturday, that two men are under consideration, and that he does not know which. Nine of the twelve names on the report practised in full.

Sam KezarSep 18, 20264 min read
San Francisco will sign a kicker on Saturday, and it has not worked one out
Week 1 Preview

Seven Of San Francisco's Nine Rookies Are Listed Second At A Position For The Opener

San Francisco opens the 2026 season against Los Angeles at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Thursday at 5:35 p.m. Pacific, 10:35 a.m. Friday in Melbourne, on Netflix, with radio on KSFO 810 AM and KSAN 107.7 FM. The club's roster page, counted in a browser on Thursday morning, carries 53 active players and exactly nine rookies. Seven of those nine are listed second at a position on the club's own website depth chart, stamped September 8 and labelled unofficial; the other two are listed third. None is listed first. The club's final injury report, published at 12:23 a.m. Pacific Thursday, issued two game designations: DL Alfred Collins out with a knee, which Kyle Shanahan said is a torn patellar tendon that ends his season, and rookie DL James Thompson Jr. questionable with a hamstring. Nick Bosa, knee, and George Kittle, achilles, were limited at all three Melbourne practices and carry no designation. Shanahan on the two of them: 'We've got to be smart with that. They both look great but we've definitely got to be smart with that.' Bosa said he is '100 percent ready to go for the first game.' Luke Gifford, Renardo Green, Dre Greenlaw, Gracen Halton and Romello Height all progressed to full participation at the last practice. Kyle Juszczyk stayed limited with a finger. Los Angeles ruled out Aaron Donald, filed under rest. Inactives land 90 minutes before kickoff. Ten players to watch, and the club's own chart still lists two men who cannot play.

Sam KezarSep 10, 20265 min read
Seven Of San Francisco's Nine Rookies Are Listed Second At A Position For The Opener
Camp Notebook

Carver Willis Graded Last Among The Linemen In The Game He Started

Carver Willis started at left guard against the Raiders and PFF's grades from the game, released Friday, rank him last among the 49ers' offensive linemen while giving Connor Colby the best pass-blocking grade of the night. The job is still open. San Francisco did not practice Friday and will not practice Saturday or Sunday, because Kyle Shanahan gave the team three days off after the finale, so the cut to 53 at 3 p.m. Pacific on Sunday falls inside them. The club reached an injury settlement with running back Patrick Taylor Jr. on Friday. Deion Jones, acquired Monday, graded first among all 49ers in the game. Jaden Dugger drew the highest pass-rushing grade on the team and Patrick Willis said so publicly.

Sam KezarAug 28, 20264 min read
Carver Willis Graded Last Among The Linemen In The Game He Started