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JJ McCarthy sits out practice; injury-plagued 49ers cancel joint practice
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JJ McCarthy sits out practice; injury-plagued 49ers cancel joint practice

Associated Press
| Detroit News

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Eagan Minnesota. — Minnesota Vikings quarterback JJ McCarthy reported soreness in his right knee and sat out practice Monday night for further examination.

Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell said the team had no reason to believe the former Michigan Wolverine was experiencing any issues beyond routine soreness, but O’Connell said he was not yet sure whether McCarthy would travel this week for joint practices with Cleveland on Wednesday and Thursday and the preseason game against the Browns on Saturday.

“It’s something we want to be smart about right now,” O’Connell said.

McCarthy was slated to get more snaps this week with the first-team offense. Sam Darnold has been atop the depth chart so far. McCarthy, the 10th overall draft pick out of national champion Michigan, had 188 yards, two touchdowns and an interception on 11-of-17 passing in his preseason debut against Las Vegas.

The Vikings also hosted free-agent cornerback Stephon Gilmore for a visit Monday, continuing their persistence with potential upgrades for a thin position. The 2019 AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year with New England and a five-time Pro Bowl selection has been with four teams over the past four seasons. The 33-year-old has not signed since playing for Dallas in 2023 and becoming a free agent.

“We’re very proud of the atmosphere, of our locker room, of our players,” O’Connell said. “I think it’s good to give the lads a taste of what they could become.”

49ers cancel joint practice with Saints

Santa Clara, California. — San Francisco defensive tackle Kalia Davis will need knee surgery after injuring it in the exhibition opener in the latest injury scar to plague the 49ers.

San Francisco was without more than a dozen players due to injuries for Monday’s practice, prompting coach Kyle Shanahan to cancel a planned joint practice later this week against the New Orleans Saints.

“It was tough because we like doing it,” Shanahan said Monday. “Ultimately, I waited a long time to make the decision because we enjoy doing it so much. But when we realized we were just doing it because we liked doing it and we were trying to change the monotony, it wasn’t worth it.”

While most of the injured players are suffering from minor injuries that should be healed by the start of the season on Sept. 9, Davis will miss significantly more time. Shanahan said he expected the third-year defensive tackle to miss about half of the regular season after getting hurt Saturday night. Cornerback Ambry Thomas also broke his forearm in that game and will also miss about half the season.

Davis had a sack and two tackles for loss against Tennessee on Saturday, showing the flashes the Niners had been hoping for after Davis played sparingly in his first two seasons while recovering from a knee injury in college.

“I think he played one of his best games,” Shanahan said. “It was really unfortunate. He played impressively throughout the game and that’s why he and we were surprised that he had such a serious injury.”

While Thomas and Davis have the only injuries projected to last into the season, several other players, including Christian McCaffrey, Elijah Mitchell, Ricky Pearsall, Isaac Yiadom, Jon Feliciano and Spencer Burford, are sidelined at the moment, leading to the decision to cancel practices with the Saints.

The 49ers like joint practices because they allow their starters to get more work done in a structured environment than in exhibition games, but they decided it was best to pass on them this year because of health concerns.

“I was very disappointed,” cornerback Deommodore Lenoir said. “We’ve been competing against each other for so long. I feel like being able to show that on another team would have been great for two days and then play a little bit in a game. Just getting a little more aggressive.”

San Francisco is still missing two other key players from practice: receiver Brandon Aiyuk was placed on a “hold” and left tackle Trent Williams was held on the sidelines in pursuit of new contracts.

Chiefs wide receiver ‘Hollywood’ Brown won’t need surgery

San Jose, Mo. — Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid said wide receiver Marquise “Hollywood” Brown did not need surgery for the shoulder injury he suffered in the team’s preseason opener at Jacksonville.

Brown spent Saturday night in a Jacksonville hospital before being released Sunday morning and was not present at Monday’s practice.

“They were able to put the joint back in place without surgery, which is a good thing,” Reid said. “We’ll see how he recovers. He’s back in Kansas City now. He stayed in Jacksonville until they fixed the joint.”

Reid said after Saturday’s game that Brown suffered a posterior sternoclavicular dislocation.

Reid also compared Brown’s injury to the same situation former Chiefs wide receiver Tyreek Hill faced in the 2019 regular-season opener. Hill missed four games before returning.

However, Reid would not commit to a similar timetable for Brown, as the regular-season opener is against the Baltimore Ravens on Sept. 5. The Chiefs will face the Lions in Kansas City on Saturday (4 p.m., FOX 2, 97.1).

“We’ll see how that goes,” Reid said.

Brown’s absence for upcoming practices, and perhaps Week 1, leaves a hole in Kansas City’s offense.

In March, the Chiefs signed Brown to a one-year contract as part of a revamped wide receiver group. The Chiefs then selected Xavier Worthy in the first round of the draft.

Reid said he believes the team has depth at the position.

“The positive thing is that he’s going to be back,” Reid said of Brown. “But without him, his experience and that in the league, we also have other players who can step up and play. We’ll be fine there. We’re rooting for him to come back.”

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