The San Francisco 49ers engineered several roster moves ahead of their Week 4 home game against the 2-1 Denver Broncos, but one of them should stand out among the rest.
Announced Wednesday before the game, the Niners promoted veteran wide receiver Brandin Cooks to the active roster for Sunday's contest. Additionally, San Francisco signed wide receiver Malik Turner to the practice squad and released wide receiver KhaDarel Hodge.
Cooks' promotion should garner interest, especially after veteran wideout Mike Evans suffered a rib injury during the 49ers' Week 3 victory over the Arizona Cardinals.
True, Evans is listed as day-to-day, and general manager John Lynch clarified it's likely a pain-tolerance issue with regard to the receiver's availability against Denver.
However, if Cooks is getting promoted after only recently signing to the Niners' practice squad, it's not necessarily the best of news for Evans' availability.
Brandin Cooks promotion might point at Mike Evans not playing vs. Broncos
San Francisco is thin on receivers. That's more than apparent. If Evans is unavailable, the only wideout with any name recognition on the 49ers roster would be Deebo Samuel. And despite the Niners offense maintaining serious prowess over the first three weeks, having another established name who commands respect from opposing defenses is paramount.
That's where Cooks comes in, at least in theory.
True, Cooks is a wholly different ilk of receiver in comparison to Evans. The former is speedy, short-statured, whereas Evans is the big-bodied third-down target who wins 50-50 opportunities.
Still, the Niners will need weapons on the perimeter, and getting Cooks up to speed rapidly has been a focal point for head coach Kyle Shanahan and Co. ever since the well-traveled pass catcher arrived on Sept. 22.
Hopefully, that's enough time to acclimate to the offense, especially if Evans isn't able to return.
If San Francisco felt better than good about Evans being available for Week 4, Cooks would likely get a little more time to absorb Shanahan's offense. However, the promotion suggests this may not necessarily be the case.
Of course, the 49ers could simply be executing a contingency plan: promoting Cooks at this point while giving Evans time to heal between now and Sunday. And if Evans isn't ready to go, at least Cooks has had more opportunity to generate a rapport with quarterback Brock Purdy.
But, from the outside perspective, Cooks getting the bump-up isn't necessarily the best news when aiming for Evans' return.
Add us as a preferred source on Google