SANTA CLARA — The 49ers hope to get an important piece of their offense back for Sunday’s matchup against the Panthers.
Veteran left tackle Joe Staley, who broke his left fibula in Week 2 against the Bengals, participated in individual drills during practice on Wednesday and depending on how the rest of the week goes, he could return earlier than expected.
Staley was seen pushing the sled prior to practice. If everything goes according to plan, the 13-year veteran could be available to return to his spot of protecting Jimmy Garoppolo against the prominent Panthers defense.
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“I think these next two days are big and we’ll see how he feels on Wednesday,” Shanahan said on Monday. “I do think there’s an outside chance, but hopefully we can get him out on the practice field a little bit this week to where if he feels good and everything then he can go.
“But if not, at least he gets a little bit of work in because it’s going to be hard to get a real practice in the following week because of the Thursday night game versus Arizona.”
The original hope was to have Ahkello Witherspoon back on the field by Sunday. Now Shanahan isn’t as hopeful after the cornerback hit a bump on his road to recovery from a foot sprain.
“I was hoping for it,” Shanahan said on Monday. “Had a little bit of a setback last week, not big, but I think it’ll be pushing it this week. There’s still an outside chance, but not as much as I felt last week.”
49ers
San Francisco 49ers
Did not participate
FB Kyle Juszczyk (knee)
T Mike McGlinchey (knee)
CB Ahkello Witherspoon (foot)
Limited participation
DE Dee Ford (quadricep)
DT D.J. Jones (hamstring)
TE George Kittle (groin)
RB Raheem Mostert (knee)
WR Deebo Samuel (groin)
T Joe Staley (fibula)
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Panthers
Did not participate
LB Brian Burns (wrist)
G Dennis Daley (groin)
T Greg Little (concussion)
LB Christian Miller (ankle)
QB Cam Newton (foot)
Limited participation
DT Gerald McCoy (knee)
LB Shaq Thompson (ankle)
Full Participation
LB Mario Addison (knee)
CB Donte Jackson (groin)
C Tyler Larsen (back)
E Greg Olsen (finger)
S Eric Reid (ankle)
G Trai Turner (ankle)