SANTA CLARA -- The 49ers could start their fifth running back of the 2924 NFL season season in Sunday’s game against the Miami Dolphins.
Rookie Isaac Guerendo sat out of a second consecutive practice Thursday due to a hamstring injury, placing his availability for the Week 16 contest in jeopardy. The team already is without Christian McCaffrey, Jordan Mason, and Elijah Mitchell.
Patrick Taylor is set to receive the starting role if Guerendo is not healthy enough to play.
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Behind Taylor are Ke’Shawn Vaughn and Israel Abanikanda, who also could see some playing time.
While this could be shocking to some teams, coach Kyle Shanahan had six different leading rushers across his first six seasons with the 49ers, so a variety of ball carriers is nothing new for San Francisco.
Trent Williams remained absent from the practice field Thursday with an ankle injury, which makes swing tackle Jaylon Moore likely to receive his fifth consecutive start at left tackle in Miami.
Nick Bosa’s availability also is in question after he practiced in a limited fashion on Wednesday. The All-Pro edge rusher sat out of practice on Thursday, which is traditionally the team's heavier work day.
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Safety Malik Mustapha continues to make progress toward a return from his chest injury, as he was not wearing the blue non-contact jersey Thursday like he was the day prior. The rookie was seen at the beginning of practice playing some sort of “hot potato” game with the entire defensive back group -- including Talanoa Hufanga, Deommodore Lenoir and Charvarius Ward.
Here is the full practice report from Thursday:
49ers
Did not participate
DL Nick Bosa (hip/oblique)
DL Maliek Collins (illness)
RB Isaac Guerendo (hamstring)
LT Trent Williams (ankle)
Limited participation
LB Dre Greenlaw (Achilles)
LT Jaylon Moore (hip)
S Malik Mustapha (chest)
G Nice Zakelj (illness)
Full participation
OL Aaron Banks (elbow)
S Ji’Ayir Brown (groin)
LB Demetrius Falnnigan-Fowles (knee)
S Talanoa Hufanga (wrist)
LB Dee Winters (neck)
Dolphins
Did not participate
T Terron Armstead (knee)
WR D’Wayne Eskridge (knee)
LS Black Ferguson (illness)
WR Jaylen Waddle (knee)
Limited participation
T Kendall Lamm (back)
LB Bradley Chubb (knee)
FB Alec Ingold (ankle)
QB Tua Tagovailoa (hip)
Full participation
RB Devon Achane (groin)
LB Cameron Goode (knee)
Resting players on Wednesday that had no injury designation on Thursday:
DT Calais Campbell (rest)
S Jordan Poyer (rest)
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