Robinson and West could return after the bye to a 49ers 53 with no room
Robinson caught five of six targets for 84 yards before a high-ankle sprain; West played the first two games on the defensive line. Both are on Shanahan's after-the-bye list, and the active roster has nobody to spare for either.
Demarcus Robinson caught five of the six passes thrown to him in the first two games, for 84 yards, and one of them was a touchdown against the Rams in Week 1, per ESPN's game logs. Then a high-ankle sprain took him out of the lineup. C.J. West played the first two games on the defensive line, with five tackles, then had knee surgery.
Both are on the list Kyle Shanahan gave on Monday of eight players with a chance to return after the bye: Nick Bosa, Mike Evans, Luke Gifford, Deebo Samuel Sr., Marques Sigle, Garret Wallow, Robinson and West. Six of the eight never left the 53. Robinson has been on injured reserve since Sept. 26 and West since Sept. 23, so neither can play against Las Vegas on Nov. 8 until someone else leaves the active roster.
The count. The club's roster page on Thursday lists 53 on the active roster, 14 on injured reserve, one on Reserve/PUP (Isaac Guerendo) and 17 on the practice squad. DeForest Buckner is on it. Jack Jones is not. The team is off this week, and the club announced no transaction Thursday; the league's transaction wire carried no San Francisco move dated Oct. 29.
Where they would land. The 53 carries six wide receivers, two of them (Evans and Samuel) among the eight Shanahan named. Robinson would be the seventh. It carries ten defensive linemen after Buckner's arrival. West would be the eleventh.
How the club has made room this month. Six players were released or waived from the 53 in October, by the club's own releases:
- Oct. 1: wide receiver KhaDarel Hodge, for Brandin Cooks' promotion.
- Oct. 3: defensive lineman Viliami Fehoko Jr., waived, for Sebastian Valdez's promotion.
- Oct. 9: defensive lineman Ogbo Okoronkwo.
- Oct. 20: defensive lineman Naquan Jones.
- Oct. 23: Okoronkwo again.
- Oct. 28: cornerback Jack Jones, for Buckner.
Four of the six were defensive linemen, and they were three men. All three are on the practice squad today: Fehoko signed back Oct. 6, Naquan Jones on Oct. 21 and Okoronkwo on Oct. 24. The last defensive line spot on the 53 has functioned as a revolving door with a practice-squad lobby.
What the club has said about adding more. General manager John Lynch, on KNBR on Tuesday, as quoted by 49ers Webzone: "If we can help this team... then absolutely, we won't hesitate." Shanahan, in the same report: "the obvious injury spots to us have been receiver and D-line. We are getting a number of those guys back at both positions, but that also doesn't exclude us from looking to something that would make sense to help us." Tim Kawakami of the San Francisco Standard wrote this week that he does not think the club is "done exploring every possible way to keep upgrading their defensive line before the Nov. 10 deadline." Any second trade is a third claim on the same two-spot problem.
The calendar. Las Vegas at Levi's Stadium is Sunday, Nov. 8. The trade deadline is Tuesday, Nov. 10, two days after it.
Still open. Shanahan's list said "a chance," not a date. The club has announced no practice window for Robinson or West.
