San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan provided injury updates after the Niners’ preseason opener. Quarterback Kurtis Rourke was struggling to breathe after he left the game with a rib injury. Shanahan said he didn’t want to go too much in depth about the injury as he didn’t have updates.
However, the team was concerned enough to send Rourke to the hospital. Shanahan said he didn’t think the issue was serious, and that may have been a precautionary move. There was no update on whether Rourke broke his ribs. The initial X-Rays at Levi’s Stadium came back negative.
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Shanahan said they believe Rourke hurt himself on a quarterback draw near the goal line toward the end of the first half. At halftime, since there were no available quarterbacks other than Adrian Martinez, the team was teaching Brayden Willis how to take a snap and hand it off in case Martinez went down with an injury.
Cornerback Nate Hobbs didn’t play in the opener. Shanahan said he pulled his groin during the joint practice against the Titans and will miss a few weeks. That is not good news for a veteran fighting for a roster spot. It also might explain why we saw Jakob Robinson start at nickel.
Here’s a complete list of the injuries from Thursday night:
Jack Jones (hand)
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Kurtis Rourke (ribs)
Nick Martin (stinger)
Marques Sigle (oblique)
Nate Hobbs (groin)
Martin was the only player who returned. We’ll see if this injury sidelines Sigle or Jones for more than a week. If the 49ers bring in multiple cornerbacks and safeties for visits next week, that’ll be our answer.
