Kyle Shanahan Announces Jason Verrett is ‘Good to Go’ Ahead of Week 7

Wednesday’s presser with 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan always starts with the injury report. Over the last few weeks, that’s been a growing list as starters continue to suffer unlucky injuries in crucial moments.

This week, however, had a bit more optimism to it.

Shanahan announced Wednesday that cornerback Jason Verrett is “good to go” for practice, indicating that he could be available for Week 7 against the Kansas City Chiefs. Suffering a torn ACL in Week 1 of the 2021 regular season, Verrett has been on the PUP list to start the year, continuing his lower leg rehab as he works into football shape. Now practicing in full Wednesday, his return is on the horizon.

“Verrett is not on here [injury report], so he’s good to go,” Shanahan stated Wednesday before practice.

There seems to be a real possibility that the 49ers have Jason Verrett but don't have Charvarius Ward against the Chiefs. Still early in the week, but the former will practice and the latter won't this PM.

Will be interesting to see how this unfolds. Bosa practicing is big

— David Lombardi (@LombardiHimself) October 19, 2022

A former Pro Bowler with the San Diego Chargers, Jason Verrett has been riddled with injuries throughout his career. But when healthy, he still has elite cover skills to be a key contributor in the secondary.

The 49ers will need him sooner than later as fellow CB Charvarius “Mooney” Ward did not practice Wednesday, dealing with a groin issue.  Ward suffered the lower-body injury in the second quarter of Week 6 at Atlanta, standing on the sideline for an extended period of time before being ruled out at the half. Already down CB Emmanuel Moseley (ACL), Mooney’s absence impacted the 49ers’ secondary greatly last week, giving up two first-half touchdowns to the Falcons.

Help is on the way though as safety Ward was limited in practice Wednesday. The defensive captain suffered a broken hand in Week 5 in Carolina, having surgery to repair it shortly after. Now more than 10 days removed from the operating table, Ward will try to give it a go while wearing a protective cast over his left hand.

If he can play with the cast, he may be out there against the Chiefs.

Here’s the club Jimmie Ward will be practicing with on his broken hand. He hopes to play in 49ers-Chiefs pic.twitter.com/OPZ4yL61GO

— David Lombardi (@LombardiHimself) October 19, 2022

“Yes, it does,” Shanahan said regarding Ward’s likeliness to play this weekend. “So we’re just gonna see how it goes out there with his cast and how he feels doing it, and what he can get away with and be safe with and still perform. So, we’ll see how it goes.”

Joining Ward on the limited participant list was left tackle Trent Williams (ankle) and defensive end Nick Bosa (groin). The former has been on the bench since suffering a high ankle sprain in Week 3 at Denver, while Bosa has only missed the Atlanta game, recovering from a groin strain suffered in Week 5. Both players have progressed well and seem on track to possibly play this weekend.

“It’s always huge, getting anybody back helps and especially getting those two guys back would be huge,” Shanahan added.

They’ll still be without second-year standout Talanoa Hufanga, still in concussion protocol after taking a blow to the head in Week 6. Shanahan stated that he is progressing through the protocol but that his status is still up in the air.

49ers Practice Report

DNP:

CB Charvarius Ward (groin)

RT Mike McGlinchey (calf)

S Talanoa Hufanga (concussion)

DL Samson Ebukam (achilles)

DL Arik Armstead (foot, ankle)

Limited:

DL Nick Bosa (groin)

LT Trent Williams (ankle)

S Jimmie Ward (hand)

DL Drake Jackson (knee)

Full:

CB Jason Verrett (ACL)

To watch the full press conference with Kyle Shanahan, click here.

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