49ers vs. Vikings: 4 sneaky-good storylines to watch in preseason bout

Storyline No. 2: 49ers reserves in secondary to be tested vs. Vikings

The Niners are dealing with some notable injuries to their starting crop of defensive backs already, which is never good.

Cornerbacks Charvarius Ward and Emmanuel Moseley have already been sidelined with soft-tissue injuries and aren’t likely to play until the regular season, while veteran corner Jason Verrett remains on the active/physically unable-to-perform list. On top of that, starting free safety Jimmie Ward suffered a hamstring injury in practice over the weekend, and he might miss a game or two when the regular season rolls around in September.

Probably not a good time for San Francisco to release veteran corner Darqueze Dennard, who was among the first wave of players Kyle Shanahan had to let go to get the roster trimmed down to 85 players from 90.

However, those players’ respective injuries open up the door for others to receive ample field time.

While the Vikings aren’t likely to deploy their top-end receiving options either, namely Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen, it’ll nevertheless be beneficial to see potential reserve defensive backs like Ambry Thomas, Deommodore Lenoir, Ka’Dar Hollman, Tarvarius Moore and Tariq Castro-Fields get plenty of snaps.

Oh, and perhaps the up-and-coming rookie sensation, cornerback Samuel Womack, can replicate his red-hot two-interception NFL debut from last Friday.