For the second straight summer, the 49ers have been stuck in an unsettling pattern: every time one injured player returns, it feels like two more go down. It’s hardly the foundation any team wants heading into an NFL season. The influx of young talent has lifted the mood around camp compared to last year’s gloom, but the injuries remain a stubborn theme. As Kyle Shanahan admitted Tuesday, “We haven’t even been able to have the training camp that we normally want to have because of the injuries.”

But after Saturday’s game in Las Vegas, Shanahan tried to frame the 49ers’ injury issues in a more optimistic light. “We didn’t lose anyone for the season, which is good,” he told reporters. “It’s tough to have three offensive guys go down, but it’s not long-term. Hopefully they’ll be back soon.”

With a number of players still sidelined in practice and uncertain for Week 1, mapping out the 49ers’ initial 53-man roster has become a far more complicated task.

Trent Williams may be preserved under what is called the “36-year-old rules,” but the rest of the roster doesn’t have that kind of protection. The joint practice in Vegas was supposed to be a safe tune-up. Instead, it ripped the bandage off and showed just how stretched Kyle Shanahan’s depth chart really is heading into Week 2 of the preseason. Something that goes way deeper than those injuries, according to SI’s Grant Cohn. “If they don’t have Williams for even a week, or just a quarter, they’re not running the ball,” Cohn warned of the far bigger concern. “You’re not running left, you’re not running right—you’re just not running the ball”. It’s a harsh truth for a team built on the ground game.

Without Williams, the 49ers have indeed lost the linchpin that powered their dominant left-side run game. What’s left is a makeshift frontline, with Ben Bartch, Connor Colby, and Spencer Burford being asked to fill in, raising more questions than confidence. And it’s not just the offense in flux: training camp has been ravaged up front on defense, with eight defensive linemen sidelined at one point, thinning the rotation and forcing coaches into constant reshuffling.

“They’ve never really had great pass protection,” Cohn admitted, “but they’ve been able to work around it. They need good run blocking. I don’t know if this is a running back issue.” The problem is clear: this line isn’t just thin, it’s fragile. Naturally, everyone wants answers. Why are the 49ers always limping into the season before the games even matter? A roster so banged up and thin that “Are you guys that beat up and thin that you had to throw all your starting offensive linemen out there?” Cohn asked. A running game on shaky ground. With a head coach staring at questions, his depth chart may not be able to answer.

Kyle Shanahan shuffles the deck as injuries pile up

Just when Kyle Shanahan thought he had his preseason plan locked in, another injury came crashing through like a wrecking ball. Shanahan had wanted Brock Purdy and the starters to get one last tune-up against the Chargers, but after the latest blow, he slammed the brakes. Can you blame him?

The breaking point came with Mac Jones. Late in the second quarter against the Raiders, he went down clutching his left knee after two defenders sandwiched him on an incomplete pass. For a moment, it looked like a disaster. He gutted it out and even delivered a gritty 13-play scoring drive, but the damage was done.

Now Shanahan is playing the waiting game. “He should be fine for Week 1,” the coach told reporters. Pointing to the Seahawks opener as Jones’ likely return. But his voice carried that weight fans know too well—hope wrapped in caution. He admitted he’d like Purdy to get more live reps, yet the reality is brutal.