The 49ers had talked about bringing back Sam Young. The 10-year veteran tackle (now in his 11th year) was on the roster bubble at the end of training camp, but lost out to rookie Justin Skule and Daniel Brunskill.
On Wednesday, following a workout of Young to make sure he was in the same shape he was when the 49ers last saw him, head coach Kyle Shanahan said, “it didn’t make sense right now” to sign Young.
But on Friday, the 49ers re-signed Young (who will take Joshua Garnett’s old number, 65), sending wide receiver Trent Taylor to injured reserve (with a likely return designation) to create the roster spot.
What changed from then to now?
The most likely guess is that Taylor suffered a setback in his rehab from a Jones fracture in his toe. He, like Tevin Coleman and Jalen Hurd, were expected back by Shanahan in Week 5 following the 49ers’ bye week. The move to place Taylor on injured reserve-return designation would mean he cannot return until at least Week 11. Had he been immediately placed on injured reserve, he could have returned in Week 9 (when he will now be eligible to begin practicing). If he was placed on injured reserve with no return designation, he won’t be able to play for the 49ers this season.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan will talk later on Friday to hopefully bring clarity to Taylor’s situation, as well as Dee Ford, who was back at 49ers practice for the first time this week.
Ford had suffered what was initially termed “quadriceps irritation” on Sunday and did not play in the second half. Shanahan clarified that the injury is the same tendinitis he dealt with in the offseason and which kept him out of most of training camp.
At the start of the week, Shanahan did not seem optimistic that Ford, who was termed as “hurting right now” would play on Sunday, but Shanahan was a bit more positive about his chances on Wednesday, saying he was “somewhat optimistic for the game… Feels better now than it did after the game on Sunday, so hopefully that will continue.”
Nick Bosa did not practice until Friday of last week and played on Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals.