49ers could be down another linebacker against Vikings

SANTA CLARA - The 49ers knew months ago they won't have one of their starting linebackers for the season opener, Reuben Foster.

They didn't know they probably won't have two.

In addition to Foster, suspended until Week 3, Malcolm Smith could miss Sunday's game against the Minnesota Vikings. He pulled his hamstring and the 49ers listed him Friday as doubtful.

“Doubtful is a small chance,” head coach Kyle Shanahan said in the 49ers auditorium. “So, we'll see. He has been limited all week.”

Smith, 29, certainly was limited on Friday. He did absolutely nothing with the team. He wore shorts and tennis shoes and jogged on a side field under a trainer's supervision. Smith didn't even break a full stride. He seemed nowhere near ready to play Sunday.

Which was odd, given what 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh said Thursday about Smith: “He's going through practice today and everything looks good for game day.”

So, what changed? Did Smith re-injure his hamstring during Thursday's practice?

“No,” Shanahan said Friday. “He has just been limited each day. At that stage, if he could take every single rep and go, then that's when we would know he's going. But, the fact that he can't quite yet, he still has almost two more days to do it so that's why we're not going to rule him out, but he's not there yet.”

Since 2017, the 49ers have had big hopes for Smith. They signed him to a five-year, $26.5-million contract with $11.5 million guaranteed. They made him the 10th-highest-paid outside linebacker (not counting edge rushers) in the league in terms of guaranteed money. Quite an investment.

In return, Smith has given the 49ers nothing. He still has not played a game for them.

When he played for the Raiders in 2015 and 2016, he missed only one game. But in 2017, he tore a pectoral muscle during training camp and missed the entire season. To use Shanahan's term, Smith was “limited” all of last season.

This year, he missed the beginning of training camp with an ankle injury. Then, he pulled his groin Week 1 of the preseason against the Dallas Cowboys. Now, this.

Shanahan wouldn't say who will replace Smith at weak-side linebacker if he can't go against the Vikings.

“We've got a number of choices,” Shanahan said. “We'll see then.”

Shanahan probably didn't realize his rookie linebacker, Fred Warner, already had broken the news about Smith's replacement Wednesday in the locker room.

“I'm taking all Mike (middle linebacker) reps this week,” Warner said, “just because that's where I'm expected to start for the game. Right now, they have Brock Coyle playing a lot of Will (weak-side linebacker).”

Coyle, 27, started 10 games last season at middle linebacker for the 49ers. But they don't see him as a starter. They see him as a backup and special-teams player.

This week, the 49ers moved Coyle to weak-side linebacker, because they envision Warner as their middle linebacker of the future. They drafted Warner expecting he would earn that spot, lead the defense and call the plays on the field. The middle linebacker always relays the coordinator's call to the rest of the players in the huddle.

“We felt Fred earned that spot,” Shanahan said. “We thought he played at a very high level throughout the practices and the games that he got in on. So did Reuben last year. But, we thought he was better at the other spot (weak-side linebacker), not doing the communication. Fred, he's been good with it (communicating plays) and it didn't slow him down from a mental aspect. It was a pretty easy decision.”

Warner never has played middle linebacker. At BYU, he played outside linebacker, and often covered slot receivers like a nickel back. He was a coverage specialist. Now, he'll be the catalyst of the 49ers run defense.

“Learning a new position at Mike backer and playing in the box for the first time, I didn't really know what to expect,” Warner said. “I feel like it's my natural position. Obviously, I didn't do a lot of that in college, but just being out there, I feel like if it wasn't as natural, I wouldn't be doing as well as I am and being in the position I'm in.”

Warner will make his 49ers debut Sunday. Smith's debut remains on hold until further notice.

Notes

Linebacker Dekoda Watson pulled his hamstring Friday during practice and is out for Sunday's game. He won't even travel to Minnesota.

Watson, 30, is an edge-rusher in the 49ers nickel defense. He earned the job by default when the 49ers traded outside linebacker Eli Harold to the Detroit Lions and released defensive end Jeremiah Attaochu.

It's unclear who will replace Watson in the 49ers nickel defense Sunday, although they could use third-year defensive lineman Ronald Blair III, who has five sacks in his career.

“I've got a lot of respect for Ronald,” Shanahan said. “First of all, he plays at a high level. He wins a lot and he can play all of the positions. He is mainly on the outside, but when we put him on the inside, he's tough enough and scrappy enough that he gets it done. Ronnie can make plays on his own and he can help us in a lot of situations.”