He’s OK with no exhibition games

49ers’ Shanahan sees upside: more time for practice

NFL coaches won’t be able to evaluate players in preseason games this summer.

Kyle Shanahan’s reaction: great.

The 49ers head coach said the elimination of four exhibition games due to the coronavirus pandemic could benefit teams because it will allow for more practice time, which is vital given the lack of onfield work teams will have had before the start of the regular season.

The lack of preseason games “does help a lot because usually you’ve got to put in those travel days for that,” Shanahan said on Chris Simms’ “Unbuttoned” podcast. “I don’t care so much about the game, but you miss practice the day before. Practice the day of. Practice the day after. So knowing that we don’t have those (games), even if we have less days, I think we might be able to make it up because we don’t have to travel to games. So we might be able to get the same amount of work in.”

The pandemic wiped out offseason practices and the 49ers will have an extended acclimation period after reporting to training camp Tuesday. The players will spend the first four days involved with testing and quarantining, which will be followed by physicals and eight days of strength and conditioning.

The 49ers will hold their first of 14 padded practices on Aug. 17, less than a month before their scheduled Week 1 meeting against the Cardinals on Sept. 13.

Shanahan noted that preseason games are a useful evaluation tool to help determine 53man rosters. For ex

ample, he said, they identify players who excel in practice but struggle on a larger stage. And the lack of exhibition contests won’t allow players who will be cut to have game video that could interest other teams.

However, beyond allowing for more practices, the elimination of the NFL’s 65 preseason games will lessen the chances of a coronavirus outbreak.

“There’s very good reasons to have preseason,” Shanahan said. “But this year our goal is to get to the season and then to have a year and that does make it harder.”

NFL teams could trim their trainingcamp rosters from 90 to 80 players to make it easier to social distance. Shanahan said the lack of games should mean a smaller roster won’t be a problem. The 90man rosters are helpful because teams limit the amount of snaps for their frontline players in the preseason, with starters rarely dressing for the exhibition finale.

“I’ve experienced how many players it takes to get through a training camp while also having them play four games,” Shanahan said. “And I truly believe it takes about 90. Now, how many players does it take to get through a training camp without games? I don’t know. No one does. We’ve never done this before. I don’t think it takes 90.”

Shanahan said he was skeptical about the NFL’s ability to have a season during a pandemic earlier this summer. However, his feelings have changed since he recently returned to the facility given the NFL’s safety protocols.

He noted the 49ers have knocked down walls throughout their facility to create bigger meeting rooms to allow for social distancing.

“I had the same concerns coming back,” Shanahan said. “Since we’ve been back in here, and I’ve seen our protocols and how they have this building, it makes me truly believe we can pull this off.”