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The 49ers Could Place Talanoa Hufanga on the PUP List this Wednesday

On Tuesday, the 49ers will have to trim their roster down to 53 players. And if Hufanga still isn't ready to practice by then, the 49ers will have to place him on the PUP List on Wednesday, which means he would miss at least the first four games of the regular season.

Grant Cohn

Jan 8, 2023; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers safety Talanoa Hufanga (29) before the game against the Arizona Cardinals at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 8, 2023; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers safety Talanoa Hufanga (29) before the game against the Arizona Cardinals at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports / Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports
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Talanoa Hufanga still hasn't practiced since he tore his ACL on Nov. 19 of last year.

On Tuesday, the 49ers will have to trim their roster down to 53 players. And if Hufanga still isn't ready to practice by then, the 49ers will have to place him on the PUP List on Wednesday, which means he would miss at least the first four games of the regular season.

Considering how patient the 49ers have been with Hufanga throughout his rehab process, it seems unlikely that they would rush him onto the field for Week 1 without any offseason practices to get him into football shape. The season opener is in two weeks. That doesn't seem like enough time to get him ready. And it hasn't even been a full year since he tore his ACL. So don't be surprised if the 49ers continue to slowplay Hufanga's return.

Hufanga isn't the only starter on the 49ers who could miss Week 1. Dre Greenlaw definitely won't play as he rehabs a torn Achilles. Trent Williams might not play as he holds out for more money. And Brandon Aiyuk might not play as he holds in for more money. So the 49ers could have a slow start to the season whether or not they rush back Hufanga. Which is another reason not to rush him back.

If the 49ers place Hufanga on the PUP List, the starting safeties Week 1 most likely will be Ji'Ayir Brown and George Odum, and the main backup will be rookie Malik Mustapha.

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Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

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