Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Kwon Alexander is back … almost. Just a tick over two months after tearing his left pectoral, Alexander was back practicing for the 49ers and involved in limited contact, with all the tea leaves pointing to a return on Saturday against the Minnesota Vikings. Head coach Kyle Shanahan said on Tuesday he had been cleared by the team’s medical staff and that Alexander, “a week ahead of schedule,” had a “good chance” to be activated off injured reserve.
In an interview with NBC Sports’ Matt Maiocco, Shanahan confirmed that Alexander would be activated and gave a general idea of how he’d be used.
“I know Kwon will fly around,” Shanahan said. “He’ll hit. He’ll be energetic. He’ll get everyone going. I think everyone will feel his energy on the field. And we’ll see how it goes. We’re not going to throw him out there, just down-in and down-out. But we don’t have a plan, where it’s only going to be ‘this’ amount. He’s looked good in practice, but we’re also not laying people out in practice.”
Shanahan said in the interview that Alexander would be evaluated as the game goes.
“You got to wait to see how the tackling goes and how he feels,” Shanahan said. “(He is) someone we’ll be communicating with throughout the game.”