The San Francisco 49ers have clinched the NFC West division title for the second straight year and clinched the 1st seed in the NFC.
San Francisco’s offense has been dominant once again. They are ranked 3rd in points, 2nd in yards, 1st in yards per play, 1st in total first downs, 2nd in passing yards, and tied for first in passing touchdowns.
Their return game has been middle of the pack since their star return specialist went down with an injury. They have the 19th most punt return yards, the 23rd highest punt return average, the 11th most kick return yards, and the 20th highest kick return average.
San Francisco opened the practice window of their wide receiver/return specialist.
The San Francisco 49ers designated their wide receiver/return specialist for return
San Francisco designated Ray-Ray McCloud for return from injured reserve. McCloud has a 21-day practice window before he can be elevated to the active roster. If he doesn’t practice or the team chooses not to activate him in that time frame, he will miss the remainder of the 2023 season.
McCloud suffered a rib injury in Week 12 and missed Week 13. He was placed on injured reserve before Week 14 and has missed the last five games.
McCloud had nine receptions for 113 yards. He also had 10 kick returns for 225 yards and 22 punt returns for 186 yards.
Who took over as the return specialist?
Deebo Samuel has taken over kick-return duties in the absence of McCloud. Deebo has six kick returns for 154 yards. He’s averaging 25.7 yards per return and has a long of 34.
Ronnie Bell has taken over punt-return duties. Bell has 10 punt returns for 70 yards. He’s averaging seven yards per return and has a long of 17.
Will McCloud play this week?
Ray-Ray McCloud was a full participant in Wednesday’s practice and has a chance to play. Here’s what head coach Kyle Shanahan said about McCloud potentially playing this week:
“They’ll come back in and practice this week. I believe Danny’s got two more weeks. We will take Ray-Ray, we’ll start his practice window Wednesday as soon as we start practicing. Ray-Ray will have a chance to be up and we’ll see how it goes with Danny.”
It would be beneficial for San Francisco if Ray-Ray McCloud could play this week, so they don’t have to worry about Deebo Samuel getting injured while returning kickoffs. But it’s not the end of the world if McCloud can’t play this week, because San Francisco will have a bye week and he’ll likely be ready to go for the Divisional Round of the playoffs.
