SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — San Francisco defensive tackle Kalia Davis will need to undergo surgery on his knee after getting hurt in the exhibition opener in the latest injury to hit the 49ers.
San Francisco was missing more than a dozen players because of injuries at practice on Monday, leading coach Kyle Shanahan to cancel a planned joint practice later this week against the New Orleans Saints.
“It was tough because we like to do it,” Shanahan said Monday. “In the long run, I waited so long to make the decision because of how much we enjoy doing it. But when we realized we were just doing it because we were enjoying to do it and trying to change the monotony it didn’t make it worth it."
While most of the injured players are dealing with minor injuries that should be healed by the season opener on Sept. 9, Davis will miss significantly more time. Shanahan said he expected the third-year defensive tackle to miss about half of the regular season after getting hurt Saturday night. Cornerback Ambry Thomas also broke his forearm in that game and will miss about half of the season as well.
Davis had one sack and two tackles for loss against Tennessee on Saturday, showing the flashes the Niners had been hoping for after Davis played sparingly his first two seasons while recovering from a knee injury in college.
“I thought he played one of his best games,” Shanahan said. “It was really unfortunate. He played awesome through the whole game, and that is why we, he and us were surprised he had such a tough injury.”
While Thomas and Davis have the only injuries that are projected to last into the season, several other players, including Christian McCaffrey, Elijah Mitchell, Ricky Pearsall, Isaac Yiadom, Jon Feliciano and Spencer Burford, are sidelined right now, leading to the decision to call off the practices with the Saints.
The 49ers like the joint practices because it allows his starters to get more work in a structured environment than they do in exhibition games but decided it was best to pass on it this year because of health.
“I was very disappointed,” cornerback Deommodore Lenoir said. “We’ve been competing with each other for so long. I feel like being able to actually unleash that on another team would have been great for two days and then play some in a game. Just get a little scrappy out there.”
San Francisco is still missing two other key players at practice with receiver Brandon Aiyuk conducting a “hold in” and left tackle Trent Williams holding out in search of new contracts.
Aiyuk is attending meetings but hasn't practiced or worked out with the team but Shanahan believes he will be ready for the season if the contract situation is resolved.
“Brandon knows what he has to do for this year to get ready to play,” Shanahan said. “I’m feeling he’s finding a way to stay in shape and do those things, but there’s a football-shape element he’s eager to get back to. Hopefully he’ll get to that soon. Brandon knows what he has to do to be in shape for the season and I fell confident he’s doing that.”
The Niners brought in some help on Monday when they signed veteran receiver Robbie Chosen to a one-year contract and waived receiver Frank Darby with an injury designation.
The 31-year-old Chosen, who was known as Robby Anderson when he entered the league in 2016, had 4,155 yards receiving in his first five seasons in the NFL with the New York Jets and Carolina but has been far less productive the past three seasons.
Anderson played nine games last season for Miami, which runs a similar offense to San Francisco, with just four catches for 126 yards and one TD.
Safety Talanoa Hufanga could also return soon from a torn ACL suffered last November. Hufanga will meet with doctors on Thursday to determine if he's ready to return to practice.
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San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan watches as his team warms up before an NFL preseason football game against the Tennessee Titans, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan looks on from the sideline during the first half of an NFL preseason football game against the Tennessee Titans, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate quickly confirmed Marco Rubio as secretary of state Monday, voting unanimously to give President Donald Trump the first member of his new Cabinet on Inauguration Day.
Rubio, the Republican senator from Florida, is among the least controversial of Trump’s nominees and vote was decisive, 99-0. Another pick, John Ratcliffe for CIA director, is also expected to have a swift vote, as soon as Tuesday. Action on others, including former combat veteran and Fox News host Pete Hegseth for defense secretary, is possible later in the week.
“Marco Rubio is a very intelligent man with a remarkable understanding of American foreign policy,” Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, the senior-most Republican, said as the chamber opened.
It’s often tradition for the Senate to convene immediately after the ceremonial pomp of the inauguration to begin putting the new president’s team in place, particularly the national security officials. During Trump’s first term, the Senate swiftly confirmed his defense and homeland security secretaries on day one, and President Joe Biden’s choice for director of national intelligence was confirmed on his own Inauguration Day.
With Trump’s return to the White House, and his Republican Party controlling majorities in Congress, his outsider Cabinet choices are more clearly falling into place, despite initial skepticism and opposition from both sides of the aisle.
Rubio, who was surrounded by colleagues in the Senate chamber, said afterward he feels “good, but there’s a lot of work ahead.”
“It’s an important job in an important time, and I’m honored by it,” Rubio said.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune moved quickly Monday, announcing he expected voting to begin “imminently” on Trump’s nominees.
Democrats have calculated it's better for them to be seen as more willing to work with Trump, rather than simply mounting a blockade to his nominees. They're holding their opposition for some of his other picks who have less support, including Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence and vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for health secretary.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said his party will “neither rubber-stamp nominees we feel are grossly unqualified, nor oppose nominees that deserve serious consideration.”
Rubio, he said, is an example of "a qualified nominee we think should be confirmed quickly."
Senate committees have been holding lengthy confirmation hearings on more than a dozen of the Cabinet nominees, with more to come this week. And several panels are expected to meet late Monday to begin voting to advance the nominees to the full Senate for confirmation.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee unanimously advanced Rubio's nomination late Monday. The Senate Armed Services Committee and Senate Intelligence Committee, respectively, voted to move the nominations of Hegseth and Ratcliffe. And the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee advanced nominees Kristi Noem as homeland security secretary and Russell Vought as director of the Office of Management and Budget, but with opposition.
Rubio, a well-liked senator and former Trump rival during the 2016 presidential race, has drawn closer to the president in recent years. He appeared last week to answer questions before the Foreign Relations Committee, where he has spent more than a decade as a member.
As secretary of state, Rubio would be the nation’s top diplomat, and the first Latino to hold the position. Born in Miami to Cuban immigrants, he has long been involved in foreign affairs, particularly in South America, and has emerged as a hawk on China’s rise.
During his confirmation hearing last week, Rubio warned of the consequences of America’s “unbalanced relationship” with China. While he echoes Trump’s anti-globalist rhetoric, Rubio is also seen as an internationalist who understands the power of U.S. involvement on the global stage.
Rubio cultivated bipartisan support from across the aisle, both Republicans and Democrats. He takes over for outgoing Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who has said he hopes the Trump administration continues Biden's policies in the Middle East to end the war in Gaza and to help Ukraine counter Russian nomination.
The Senate is split 53-47, but the resignation of Vice President JD Vance and, soon, Rubio drops the GOP majority further until their successors arrive. Republicans need almost all every party member in line to overcome Democratic opposition to nominees.
Objection from any one senator, as is expected with Hegseth and several other choices, would force the Senate into procedural steps that would drag voting later into the week.
Associated Press writers Farnoush Amiri and Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report.
President-elect Donald Trump's Cabinet picks, other nominees and appointments, pose for a photo at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025. First row from left, Elise Stefanik, John Ratcliffe, Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Howard Lutnick, Pete Hegseth, Doug Burgum, Brooke L. Rollins, Marco Rubio and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.; second row from left, Scott Turner, Tulsi Gabbard, Sean Duffy, Linda McMahon, Lee Zeldin, Kristi Noem, Chris Wright, Doug Collins, Kelly Loeffler and Scott Bessent; and third row from left, Stephen Miran, Jamieson Greer, Kevin Hassett, Kash Patel and Russell Vought. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., a nominee for Secretary of State, attends the 60th Presidential Inauguration in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (Kevin Lamarque/Pool Photo via AP)