Happy Friday, Niner Gang! The smell of football is fully in the air as we rapidly approach week 1! Let’s dive into the updates from this week and look ahead to preseason game 2 on Sunday:

Weekly Summary

• Brandon Aiyuk & Trent Williams are still holding out and haven’t signed. Nothing new to report on that front aside from reporting that these holdouts are giving me a headache and I can’t look at another report from “sources”…

• Talanoa Hufanga got some good news - after visiting with his doctor Friday he has been cleared to do more football activity on the field

  • Hopefully a full return to practice is coming soon

• Starting Offensive Guard Aaron Banks broke his pinky on Thursday

  • Kyle Shanahan says he hopes Banks will be ready to play week 1

• Kyle Shanahan says he’d like to get the starters in for a series or two in the 2nd preseason game, and will play them more in the 3rd preseason game

Random Tidbits From The Week

• Jimmy Garoppolo took a shot at the 49ers (and his previous other previous teams this week) when talking about playing for the Rams he said: “This place allows you to be yourself, too, which is different than other places I’ve been”.

  • Ok, Jimmy, Ok. Sounds like sour grapes and excuses for why you didn’t excel elsewhere 🍇 

• Former 49ers head coach and new Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh reportedly offered his former QB Colin Kaepernick a job on his coaching staff with the Chargers.

  • We haven’t heard exactly what role Harbaugh offered Kaepernick, and Harbaugh says Kaepernick is “considering it. He was out of the country. He said he was going to get back to me”.

  • Harbaugh already has his former stud LB with the 49ers, NaVorro Bowman on his staff as his linebackers coach for the Chargers ⚡️ 

• Speaking of great former 49ers linebackers, Patrick Willis will receive his Hall of Fame ring during a ceremony of the 49ers-Cardinals game on October 6th!

Preseason Game 2 Preview:

Watching guys in 49ers uniforms play football is better than not watching guys in 49ers uniforms play football, but still, preseason is just preseason. So, how much can we really look forward to or take away from these games? Answer: probably very little. With that being said, here’s what I’m watching for in preseason game 2 vs the Saints 👀 

• PUNI! Rookie offensive linemen Dominick Puni continues to be one of the most exciting storylines around 49ers camp. Everything we hear from the staff seems to point to the starting Right Guard position being Puni’s to lose. Maybe we will see another ‘Puni Push’ this game.

• Rookie safety Malik Mustapha was electric in preseason game 1 and 49ers fans everywhere want to see a lot more of him. Is he for real?

• As mentioned above, Kyle Shanahan says we can expect to see the starters for a series or two. While we won’t take any big conclusions away from seeing them for a few plays, it will still be great to see Purdy & company out there again. It feels like forever since we’ve seen them line up together!

• The backup QBs were fun to watch in game 1 and should be another area of intrigue for game 2! Allen & Dobbs remain in competition for the backup QB spot, so these games for them are absolutely crucial.

4 49ers Graphics

4 49ers Facts

1) Brock Purdy is 8-0 in his young career against NFC West opponents

2) At the time of his retirement, Jerry Rice held a whopping 38 different NFL records!! Essentially he held nearly every receiving record out there 🫡 

3) The 49ers are just 22-30 all-time in their matchups against the Seattle Seahawks. Let’s hope it’s 24-30 after this season..

4) The 49ers have had the 49th overall draft pick just 4 times in their franchise history since their first draft.
2010: Safety Taylor Mays
1983: RB Roger Craig (that one worked out pretty well 😉)
1974: RB Delvin Williams
1971: RB Joe Orduna

*Why so many RBs at #49?!

Highlight of the Week

With the 49ers playing the Saints this week, I can’t help but have this week’s highlight be the EPIC 2012 NFC Divisional Round playoff game. Culminating in The Catch III from Alex Smith to Vernon Davis, this was one of the greatest playoff games in NFL history…and not just because the 49ers won 😏 

That’s it for today, have yourself a great weekend!

As always, I am constantly looking for ways to improve the blog and provide more of what you guys want to see. Feel free to reply and email me with any thoughts or suggestions!

Bang Bang Niner Gang!