Nick Bosa hurt his calf warming up, and four linemen will miss Arizona
Bosa, Romello Height and James Thompson Jr. are out Sunday, and C.J. West is already on injured reserve. Receiver Demarcus Robinson is out too, and Mike Evans is questionable after a limited Friday. The club expects to decide on injured reserve for Bosa on Saturday.
Nick Bosa hurt his calf in individual warmups before Thursday's practice, according to the club's own final injury report, and he is out against Arizona on Sunday. Kyle Shanahan said after Friday's practice that Bosa will miss "a few weeks," per Kyle Madson of Niners Wire. The club says it expects to make its injured-reserve decisions on Saturday.
Bosa had not practiced all week. He was listed Wednesday as resting his knee, and the club added the calf on Thursday, per Nick Wagoner of ESPN. Sunday would have come almost exactly a year after he tore his ACL against the same opponent.
He has played 76 of San Francisco's 120 defensive snaps this season, by the official game books, without a sack.
The final report. Five 49ers carry a game designation. Bosa (knee, calf), Romello Height (hand), James Thompson Jr. (ankle) and Demarcus Robinson (ankle) are out. Mike Evans (hip) is the only one listed as questionable.
The line that played Miami. Nine defensive linemen took snaps in the Week 2 win, by the game book. Four of them will not play Sunday: Bosa, Height, Thompson and C.J. West, who went on injured reserve Wednesday. Those four took 119 of the 251 snaps the nine played. The men left are Osa Odighizuwa, Gracen Halton, Keion White, Ogbo Okoronkwo and Khalid Kareem, plus Naquan Jones, who signed Wednesday. Of those, Wagoner counts three healthy defensive ends: White, Kareem and Okoronkwo.
Injured reserve is a budget. Wagoner reported Friday, citing sources, that the club is leaning against putting Bosa on injured reserve, in part because it is running short of return designations. A club gets eight a season. Shanahan, speaking Wednesday, per Wagoner: "We're going to run out of them eventually, so that's what we're trying to balance out." Robinson and Thompson, both with high-ankle sprains, are the same question. Shanahan put both at three to six weeks on Monday and neither has been moved.
Height did not make it. Shanahan gave him "an outside chance" on Monday, after he broke his hand against Miami. He had surgery this week and did not practice Wednesday, Thursday or Friday.
Evans came back Friday. He missed Wednesday and Thursday with the hip and returned as a limited participant, per the club. The decision comes 90 minutes before the 1:05 p.m. kickoff. With Robinson out, the receivers on the 53 who are certain to be available are Deebo Samuel, Jacob Cowing, KhaDarel Hodge and Jordan Watkins. Watkins has been inactive for both games.
Cooks, from the practice squad. Brandin Cooks signed Wednesday. John Lynch said on KNBR that Cooks had kept in touch for years and grew up a 49ers fan in Stockton: "He kind of stayed in touch over the years," per Niners Wire. Shanahan said Wednesday he plays "as soon as he's ready," per David Bonilla of 49ers Webzone. An elevation for Sunday has not been announced.
Three rested, three cleared. Dre Greenlaw, Christian McCaffrey and Trent Williams took rest days Wednesday, practiced in full Thursday and Friday and carry no designation, per the club.
Next week's help. Mykel Williams, on the physically-unable-to-perform list after last season's torn ACL, is expected back at practice next week, per Wagoner. He cannot play in a game until Week 5 at Seattle.
