MELBOURNE, Australia – The San Francisco 49ers held their first Australia practice open to the media Monday afternoon at AAMI Park ahead of their season-opener against the Los Angeles Rams. Because the 49ers are “technically in the future,” in the words of head coach Kyle Shanahan, they aren’t required to provide an injury report until Wednesday morning’s practice.
For those keeping track, that would be Tuesday night on the West Coast. Until that report comes in, there won’t be an official word on injury statuses. But during Monday’s early portion of practice, two key players did not participate: running back Christian McCaffrey and defensive end Nick Bosa.
McCaffrey remained off to the side of the field, at points standing around and at other points going through individual warmup drills. Bosa wasn’t seen on the field at all after returning to practice last Wednesday for the first time in nearly a month. He’s recovering from a torn right ACL but said last week he felt great and expected to play in Week 1.
When McCaffrey didn’t practice for two weeks during the middle portion of training camp, he said it was part of a plan to keep him “fresh for the duration” of the season. It’s possible the 49ers are having the 30-year-old running back tread lightly early in the week before ramping up again ahead of Friday morning’s kickoff. McCaffrey spoke to reporters ahead of Monday’s practice, saying “everybody feels pretty great” thanks to a detailed plan the 49ers’ medical staff provided to players.
Every other previously injured 49er practiced Monday. Shanahan said defensive end Sam Okuayinonu, who was placed on injured reserve, broke his foot Saturday during the 49ers’ bonus practice, their first in Australia a day after landing. To fill his roster spot, San Francisco signed defensive end Khalid Kareem from the Atlanta Falcons’ practice squad.
“He’s going to have to get surgery. It was a bad injury,” Shanahan said of Okuayinonu. “Hopefully we can get him back later in the year, but it was a real tough loss.”
First Australia impressions: Neither Shanahan nor the 49ers’ players have been able to explore much of Melbourne beyond a small radius around the team hotel. Shanahan said he went on a 30-minute walk. McCaffrey did the same on the first day, but said he’s “probably … not the guy to ask” for his thoughts on Australia.
Despite spending limited time out and about, Shanahan’s vision of Australia is quite different from what he anticipated.
“I don’t see kangaroos and crocodiles everywhere. I was expecting to see that, and it looks like a very normal, cool city,” the coach said.
For McCaffrey, his biggest surprise thus far has been the coffee, which he said is unbelievable. “I don’t know why nobody talked about that as much as they should have beforehand,” McCaffrey said. Wide receiver Mike Evans said he expected the food in Melbourne to be bad, but he has been pleasantly surprised.
Players said the adjustment to the new time zone wasn’t too bad. According to McCaffrey, players received detailed packets with notes on when to sleep, when not to sleep, which supplements to take at which hours and more. Linebacker Fred Warner said he’s treating it as a “business trip,” making sure he’s going to sleep at the right time and adjusting his body for Friday morning’s kickoff.
“I think it’s our job to put out the best product on Friday to give the fans of Australia something to get excited about and see our sport in person for the first time,” Warner said.
Team captains: Shanahan announced the 49ers’ team captains ahead of Week 1, voted on by the players. The group of eight remains the same from last season: Bosa, McCaffrey, Kyle Juszczyk, George Kittle, Deommodore Lenoir, Brock Purdy, Warner and Trent Williams.
Kittle, Warner and Williams will wear the “C” patch on their jerseys once again, signifying their five-plus years of team captainship. Kittle enters his ninth year as a 49ers captain, while Warner and Williams enter their seventh.
Unfortunately for some captains, the flashy title didn’t automatically equal the most spacious seats on the team plane for the 16-hour flight from San Francisco to Melbourne. Shanahan said those were given to the starters along the offensive and defensive lines. The remainder was doled out based on seniority.
“No one came in and complained about it to me, so hopefully I succeeded as well as I could,” Shanahan said.
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This article originally published at 49ers’ Nick Bosa, Christian McCaffrey don’t practice; Sam Okuayinonu on IR.
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