Kyle Shanahan is hopeful Banks can return in time for Week 1
The San Francisco 49ers have one final practice for a day off on Saturday. Head coach Kyle Shanahan said he wanted three tough practices ahead of Sunday’s second preseason game against the New Orleans Saints.
Left guard Aaron Banks had surgery for a broken pinkie finger. Shanahan said the hope is to have Banks back by Week 1 for Monday night against the New York Jets.
Backup guard Ben Bartch is out with “knee irritation, per Shanahan. Nick Zakelj filled in for Bartch, who was filling in for Banks as Spencer Burford and Jon Feliciano.
Zakelj had been filling in at center, occasionally with the first team. But with a plethora of injuries, Zakelj will now focus on guard as the 49ers get healthy.
Shanahan has yet to make a decision about which starters will suit up on Sunday: “Probably some of them, not all of them. I haven’t totally decided.”
Shanahan also hopes that rookie wide receiver Ricky Pearsall will be ready for Week 1. Pearsall has missed time with a shoulder injury:
“I hope so. We’ll find out when he gets back and where he is. We’ve got another week of camp, and we’ve got two weeks after. I forget what the days are. That’s like 27 days or something. That’s enough time. He’s able to run and do all those things. Do our walk-throughs. I just want to protect him from hits and things like that so he doesn’t have a setback.”
Talanoa Hufanga received positive news from his doctor's visit on Thursday. Hufanga will be able to ramp up what he can do moving forward and be more aggressive on the field as he attempts to do more football-related activities. From there, the 49ers will assess whether Hufanga can return to practice.
