It’s hard to find an NFL team that has had a worse summer than the San Francisco 49ers. And it just got worse.
The 49ers, an otherwise good team, have for the past couple of months been weaving and slipping bad news like a boxer trying to avoid a knockout punch.
Remember that head coach Kyle Shanahan in July got into a terrible head-on collision that he actually caused when he went looking for his cell phone in his car while relying on his Tesla’s autopilot feature to drive for him.
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The ensuing head-on collision when his car drifted into an oncoming lane left Shanahan with broken bones, facial lacerations, a concussion and regrets.
And, amazingly, that was perhaps the least bit of football-related bad news the team got during training camp. Because …
Defensive end Nick Bosa, trying to get ready for the regular season after ACL surgery last season, hasn’t practiced in four weeks and is not ready to play.
Tight end George Kittle, trying to get ready for the season after surgery to repair a torn Achilles, hasn’t practiced during training camp either, despite constant reports he’s on the mend and ahead of schedule.
Then majority owner Jed York got popped in a prostitution sting by the Mahoning Valley Human Trafficking Task Force in Ohio. The arrest and York subsequently pleading no contest to lesser charges didn’t stop the story from going viral and putting York in the crosshairs of the NFL Personal Conduct Policy.
Hey, um, did we mention that 2024 first-round pick Ricky Pearsall, required knee surgery the first week of August, effectively ending his 2026 season before it even began?
Breaking: None of this is good.
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But it gets potentially worse.
On Sunday, Aaron Donald announced he is returning to the NFL to play for the Los Angeles Rams after being retired the past two years.
Donald saw what the Rams have done this offseason in loading up for a run at the Super Bowl and decided he wanted to join the fun and make life difficult for rivals like … the 49ers.
And although the three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year has been out since 2024, Donald thinks he’s still going to be dang good at age 35.
During his comeback news conference Donald detailed his grueling preparation to return to the game. He said he ran full-speed on the treadmill and lifted weights to stay in top physical shape during his time away from the game.
And he explained that he worked with the trainer who had known him since high school to get an honest assessment of his current explosiveness compared to that of his youth.
“You ain’t missed a step,” Donald said his private trainer told him.
That’s great for the Rams. But not so much for the 49ers because they play the Rams twice in the NFC West, including in their season opener Sept. 10 in Australia.
More bad news? Of course.
Shanahan on Monday announced he doesn’t know who is going to start at left guard in that game to fill the assignment of blocking Donald.
“Don’t know yet,” Shanahan told reporters when asked for details.
The 49ers practiced Monday, then will do so again Tuesday and Wednesday before leaving for Australia. And until those practices happen, well, Shanahan isn’t ready to pick a starter.
“We haven’t had those three practices yet and we just added a new guy to the group too,” the coach said. “So, it’s truly fluid.”
This isn’t a coach being coy about an answer he doesn’t want to reveal for competitive purposes. This feels more like Shanahan and his staff evaluated rookie fourth-round pick Carver Willis throughout training camp and do not feel comfortable enough to name him as the starter.
And definitely not against Aaron Donald.
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The 49ers were so uncertain about Carver they felt compelled to trade for depth-guy Jarrett Patterson in an exchange with the Houston Texans. And now the depth guy they acquired is suddenly in the mix to start less than two days after joining the team.
“It’s still fluid in all our positions in there, so I want to see where he fits in the group in these three days,” Shanahan said. “So, I want to get him in the group, see where he fits, just see him in person, see how he can help us at guard, how he can help us at center and how he stacks up to the other guys.”
It’s not all terrible news for the 49ers.
The NFL has given Donald a roster exemption in case the Rams feel he needs more ramp-up time before playing again. That could mean he doesn’t play the 49ers in that season-opener.
Sure, Aaron Donald might decide after spending six weeks getting ready for his NFL return, it would be wise to not play in a nationally televised game against a rookie or a guy the 49ers just added to the roster.
