The San Francisco 49ers were well aware they'd be playing both the Tennessee Titans and the Los Angeles Chargers this preseason; the slate of three games announced shortly after the regular season went live.
It's one thing to simply play those teams in exhibition contests. It's another to engage in joint practices, and head coach Kyle Shanahan has repeatedly said those skirmishes hold more value than any preseason bout largely featuring reserves and backups who have little chance of making the 53-man roster.
Oh, and speaking of those two teams, Shanahan will get to square off against some familiar faces, too.
So, why not do it under a joint-practice setting, right? That's what the head coach told reporters during the first media session of organized team activities:
#49ers coach Kyle Shanahan says the plan is to do joint practices with the Titans and the Chargers in the preseason.
— Nick Wagoner (@nwagoner) May 28, 2026
Ah, yes. The Bolts and Titans. The connections shouldn't be too hard to draw.
49ers will face 2 former coaches familiar to the franchise
The Niners open up their preseason campaign by hosting Tennessee, which happened to hire Shanahan's two-time defensive coordinator, Robert Saleh, as its head coach earlier this offseason.
Saleh certainly got the most of a banged-up defense last season, and while the sacks and turnovers weren't there, the fact San Francisco still managed to make the playoffs and win a Wild Card game speaks measures to the job both Saleh and Shanahan did despite the adversity.
It'll certainly be good for the two coaches to reunite again ahead of the Aug. 13 exhibition showdown between the two clubs.
A week later, though, the 49ers visit the Chargers and a former Niners head coach, Jim Harbaugh, who didn't exactly leave San Francisco on the most harmonious terms. Granted, Harbaugh's departure in January of 2015 seems like a lifetime ago, and he and Shanahan never crossed paths in the Bay Area.
Still, it'll be hard to ignore the post-Harbaugh years as part of the conversation during joint practices leading up to the Aug. 20 preseason showdown in Los Angeles.
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