49ers injury updates: Jake Brendel is expected to miss OTAs with knee arthritis

49ers HC Kyle Shanahan said the team will be smart with Brendel, even though his injury is ‘something he could tough through.’

On Tuesday afternoon, San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan provided injury updates after OTA practice. Several players were missing, although it’s not a concern in Shanahan's eyes as these practices are voluntary.

Edge rusher Nick Bosa was on hand, but Drake Jackson isn’t healthy enough to practice, and defensive tackle Maliek Collins will be out another week as he awaits his kids' graduation.

Jauan Jennings and Brandon Aiyuk weren’t present. Here’s Shanahan on whether those additional reps will help a player like Ricky Pearsall:

“I always think the more reps you get, the more experience you get, and the more different situations you can be put in. And if you’re talented enough and made of the right stuff, you can only get better. But sometimes, it’s hard to generate those things in a practice when it’s not full speed. But the more reps you can get always helps the right type of player.”

Shanahan said, “It’s voluntary, so there is no status yet,” when asked about Jennings's status. Kyle made a blanket statement aboutall of the players missing.

George Kittle was at practice, but in street clothes.

He added that Christian McCaffrey hasn’t be at practice this week, either. Shanahan did not know the reason why. But he didn’t want to lump them all in the same boat as Aiyuk and Jennings: “I’m not sure if that is the case, on any of those guys. I’m not throwing them all in who is here for that reason and who is not. But it is all voluntary. We’ll see when it becomes mandatory.”

When a similar question came up later, Shanahan said, “The same as I do about all these guys that weren’t here. I wish they were here. But it’s something that’s part of the business. Anytime it’s the business part, you try to stay out of it and respect it. I look forward to the day when we can focus on football.”

Center Jake Brendel has “Some knee arthritis. He can tough through it, but we’ll be smart with him.” Brendel’s injury would only be concerning if it’s something that lingers into training camp.