All NFL teams need to trim their rosters to 53 players by Tuesday at 1 p.m. PT, but 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan stresses to each player released from the club that it is not necessarily the end of their journey with the organization.
“It’s a huge thing,” Shanahan said on Sunday via conference call. “I always try to make a point of it. One of the things I say a lot is that, they talk about it being the 'final 53,' but never in the history of football has the final 53 been the final 53. That’s just the final 53 on Tuesday at one o’clock.”
Shanahan and the 49ers not only have brought back previously released players to the practice squad in the past, but eventually elevated them to active game-day rosters, even in their biggest games of the year.
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“It’s always changing,” Shanahan said. “And you’ve got 53 guys who you decide on then, you’ve got 16 on practice squad. That changes a ton throughout the year.”
The 49ers currently have players in the starting lineup whose journies originated on the practice squad, including offensive lineman Colton McKivitz, wide receiver Jauan Jennings and linebacker Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles.
Wideout Chris Conley started on the practice squad in 2023 and eventually appeared in eight regular-season games, catching three of his six targets for 69 receiving yards. The nine-year vet also played in all three postseason games, catching both of his targets for 35 yards, both resulting in first downs.
“The point is sticking around in this league and finding a way to do it,” Shanahan said. “I always like to tell people that when we get in binds and you need to get people in the middle of the year, we’d always rather get a person that we know, [rather] than just some random dude that we don’t.”
San Francisco 49ers
The 49ers had 12 players on the active game-day roster in Super Bowl LVIII that did not suit up in their Week 1 season-opening win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. A few were free agents, a few were rookies, but there also were players that originally were released on roster cut-down day.
Along with Conley, several players were brought back to Santa Clara and again were on the roster during this year’s training camp, including defensive linemen Austin Bryant, Alex Barrett, T.Y. McGill and linebacker Curtis Robinson.
“Even the guys that there isn’t a spot on practice squad,” Shanahan said. “If they handle it here the right way, and usually they can make it through camp, that means that there’s something that they can bring. So even if you’re not on one of those 16, you always have a chance with us in the future.”
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