San Francisco 49ers Camp Opens: Mike Evans Dazzles While Kyle Shanahan Recovers

The San Francisco 49ers opened training camp this week without their head coach on the field, with their most famous new receiver hauling in deep balls, and with their most famous absent receiver getting a door closed on him in real time. That is a lot of franchise history compressed into three days in Santa Clara. Veterans reported July 25, practices kicked off July 26, and the latest San Francisco 49ers news cycle delivered everything from Kyle Shanahan's recovery timeline to Mike Evans' first sideline bomb from Brock Purdy. For a team that spent last season grinding through injuries and a defensive line that general manager John Lynch flatly said "wasn't good enough," the first week of camp felt like the start of something deliberately rebuilt.

Shanahan Recovers While Foerster Runs the Show

The most sobering item in this week's San Francisco 49ers news: Kyle Shanahan is working his way through concussion protocol after a car accident that left him with non-life-threatening injuries. He is participating in limited team activities, and the organization does not expect him to miss the Week 1 opener against the Rams in Australia. In the meantime, assistant head coach and offensive line coach Chris Foerster is running practice, and the team has been open about spreading the load — offensive coordinator Klay Kubiak is calling plays in practice and is expected to handle preseason games, with defensive coordinator Raheem Morris, special teams coordinator Brant Boyer and the veteran leadership group all shouldering pieces of the job.

Foerster, for his part, sounded like a man enjoying the assignment. "I really love the energy and the attitude," he said after the first practice. "We've got a bunch of guys that love playing football." It helps that the two loudest voices in the building, Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw, are both back on the field together — Morris made a point of praising the energy the linebacker duo brings every single day.

Mike Evans Already Looks Like the Missing Piece

Signed to a three-year deal on March 9 after twelve seasons and eleven straight 1,000-yard years in Tampa Bay, Mike Evans wasted no time making his presence felt. On Day 1 he got behind the defense and connected with Purdy on a deep completion down the left sideline, the kind of vertical strike this offense mostly lived without last season. Purdy was direct about what the receiver room now offers: "We have shown that we've got some speed now. It brings a whole other dynamic to our offense."

Evans is not the only receiver generating buzz. Rookie De'Zhaun Stribling has stacked two straight days of multiple catches with crisp routes and real separation, and Purdy has noticed: "He's proven to all of us that he's reliable and we can trust him." With Christian Kirk sidelined early by a calf strain, Stribling's reps matter more than the usual late-July rookie hype. Christian McCaffrey, meanwhile, looked like Christian McCaffrey — explosive runs, catches out of the backfield, and a heavy workload alongside physical rookie back Kaelon Black as the offense leaned into run-heavy scripts on Day 2.

Injury Report: The PUP List and the Bosa Plan

The 49ers opened camp with four players on the active/PUP list, and picked up a few new dings almost immediately:

• TE George Kittle — Achilles injury, on PUP to start camp
• RB Isaac Guerendo — pectoral injury, PUP
• DL Mykel Williams — ACL recovery, PUP
• DL Alfred Collins — shoulder, PUP
• OL Vederian Lowe — high ankle sprain suffered on Day 1
• WR Christian Kirk — calf strain
• DL Gracen Halton — knee bone bruise
• DL Andrew Farmer II — back

The better news sits at the top of the defense. Nick Bosa was cleared to start camp in his return from an ACL tear, though the team is easing him in with individual drills before turning him loose. Warner, coming off the ankle injury, was described as basically a healthy player and looked it — "It's business as usual," he said. "We've got to compete. We've got to get better." He also offered the most encouraging Bosa scouting report available: "I couldn't even tell that he had an injury." Lowe's ankle sprain is the one that stings; Enrique Cruz Jr. took significant reps in his place, while Connor Colby has settled in at left guard after a productive offseason.

The Aiyuk Situation Is Over in Everything but Paperwork

If there were any lingering doubt about Brandon Aiyuk's future in San Francisco, Lynch removed it Monday. "Brandon is on a left squad designation. As such, he's not on our 90-man roster," Lynch said. "We as an organization are going to focus on the players that are here." That is about as final as front-office language gets in July. Aiyuk missed the entire 2025 season, reportedly skipped rehab appointments and demanded his release, a stunning fall for a player who parlayed a Second-Team All-Pro 2023 into a four-year, $120 million extension. Reporting this week characterized Aiyuk as unwilling to do business with the team at all, and the club has indicated it is not shopping him. So he sits, off the roster, while the team he starred for signs future Hall of Famers to run his old routes. Sometimes the league writes its own endings.

Roster Moves and a Rebuilt Defensive Line

The week's transactions were modest but telling. The 49ers released defensive lineman Evan Anderson, added tight end Tanner McLachlan from Cincinnati, and waived tight end Khalil Dinkins with a non-football injury designation — depth churn behind a Kittle-less tight end room. The bigger story is the offseason remodel up front. Lynch was blunt that the defensive line underperformed last year, and the front office responded by adding Osa Odighizuwa, Halton and Romello Height to the rotation. Early returns from Morris' defense are promising: five-man fronts on Day 1, when Marques Sigle picked off a pass and Jalen Graham cashed in a tipped-ball interception, then a turnover-happy Day 2 in which Ji'Ayir Brown and Eli Apple both picked off passes and Jack Jones, Upton Stout and Renardo Green broke up throws. Malik Mustapha added a pass breakup on a deep shot, and the back end generally won more reps than a July secondary usually does against a Purdy-led offense. The 49ers also spent roughly $9 million on a new hydro recovery area and expanded their performance staff — an investment aimed squarely at a season that opens in Melbourne and swings through Mexico City in Week 11.

What's Next for the 49ers

Camp settles into a rhythm from here, with the calendar tightening quickly:

• Aug. 11: Joint practice vs. Tennessee in Santa Clara
• Aug. 13: Preseason opener vs. Titans at Levi's Stadium
• Aug. 18: Joint practice with the Chargers in El Segundo
• Aug. 20: Preseason game at the Chargers
• Aug. 27: Preseason finale at the Raiders
• Sept. 10 (PT): Season opener vs. the Rams in Melbourne, Australia

There is also a warm subplot on the calendar: Roger Craig finally goes into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in August, an honor Lynch celebrated on report day while also remembering the late Aldon Smith, who died in June.

Add it up and the San Francisco 49ers' week in review reads like a franchise consciously turning a page — a new No. 1 receiver stretching the field, a defense that already looks feistier, a coach expected back for a historic opener on the other side of the planet. The health questions are real, and the Kittle and Bosa timelines will hang over August. But if the first three days are any guide, the 49ers are betting that speed, depth and a little bit of urgency can put 2025 firmly behind them. Melbourne is six weeks out. The runway starts now.