49ers have decision to make with suspended WR Victor Bolden

[liny195]

Fooch’s update: The 49ers have a week to decide , so can wait until after the Cardinals game if they want.The San Francisco 49ers have an assortment of injury issues, and head coach Kyle Shanahan said they might have to look at bringing in some healthy bodies at various positions.While they figure out who to bring in for Tuesday workouts, the 49ers have a decision to make with regard to wide receiver Victor Bolden. Over the summer, the NFL suspended Bolden for four games due to a violation of the league’s policy on performance-enhancing substances. He was allowed to take part in training camp and the preseason, but the 49ers then placed him on the Reserve/Suspended list as they cut down to 53 players.Bolden’s suspension is over, and the team has until Wednesday to figure out what to do. He currently does not count against the 53-man roster, and the 49ers get a two-day exemption to figure out if they want to release a player to make room for Bolden, or release Bolden to free agency.A year ago, Bolden spent the first 13 games of the season on the 53-man roster, and the final three games on injured reserve. In his 13 games on the roster, Bolden was active for nine games and inactive for four games. He was primarily a special teams player, appearing in 122 special teams snaps and 27 offensive snaps. He was the team’s starting kick returner, with 19 returns for 396 yards (20.8 yards per return).The 49ers held onto him through the suspension, and while there was nothing lost in keeping him around, it does suggest they might have a spot for him on the roster. At the time of the suspension announcement, Bolden said he unknowingly used a supplement on the NFL’s banned substance list. He acknowledged needing to take full responsibility for not verifying the ingredients of the supplement, and the 49ers seemed to accept that it was an unintentional mistake.D.J. Reed is currently the team’s starting kick returner, averaging 30.3 yards per return on nine kickoffs. The rules have changed in terms of the kick coverage players being delayed getting down the field , but Reed is fourth in return average, so he’s finding success in the role.There are currently six wide receivers on the depth chart: Pierre Gar莽on, Marquise Goodwin, Trent Taylor, Dante Pettis, Kendrick Bourne, and Richie James. Through four games, James has been active once, playing seven offensive snaps and no special teams snaps.If the 49ers want Bolden back on the roster, my guess is they would release James in hopes he gets through waivers and they can sign him to the practice squad. James was an explosive option in the preseason, but has not been able to earn a spot on the game-day roster aside from the one game active when Marquise Goodwin was hurt.The 49ers have two days to make a decision, and I suspect any roster move does not formally happen until Wednesday. Happy Sunday folks, it’s game day! Although our beloved 49ers haven’t been performing quite as well as we’d have hoped at this point in the season, today is the first of a three-game stretch during which the 49ers will face other teams that roughly match their talent level and record. After facing the one-win Cardinals today, the team will play the one-win Raiders the following Thursday, and then the one-win Giants during the week 10 Sunday games. Some might argue that the downside to this stretch of games is the implications it will have upon the draft order, but I’d argue that the immediate upside is that the 49ers will have a pre-season length period of being competitive again.As has been a headline for much of the season, injuries will play a major role in today’s game once again. Richard Sherman , Jimmie Ward, and Matt Breida are all expected to participate today, to varying degrees, after recent bouts of injury. However, Pierre Garcon will not be playing, but the team will be able to rely on rookie Dante Pettis, who has recently overcome an injury of his own. I’ve probably mentioned it before, but the clown car/carousel of injuries the 49ers have dealt with this season has become nearly comical in it’s absurdity. Knock on wood (please guys, this is serious), but at least they’ve trimmed the injured list down from it’s high mark from a few weeks ago, of somewhere between 15 and 20 players.The other primary issue plaguing the 2018 49ers has been the insane turnover differential & rate. Although the Cardinals are an objectively bad team, they’re one whose only victory was against our objectively bad team. It was in a game where our squad obliterated them in every meaningful statistic, other than turnovers, and by extension, points. We handed them the game on a silver platter, in what I could only describe, in my (semi-)professional opinion, as a “craptastic” performance. The team’s problems with turnovers have extended through the season , and it is certainly the #1 controllable variable to victory - this week and beyond. If the team wants to start winning, ball security needs to be a top priority, and I hope that this concept sinks in some time before game time today. Go Niners!Week 8 preview | Ochoa, 4th & 9Keys to beating the Cardinals | Garcia, 4th & 9 | Chan, NBC Sports Bay Area | Almquist, KNBR | Biderman, Sac Bee | Madson (O), Ninerswire | Madson (D), NinerswirePlayers and coaches to watch | Maiocco, NBC Sports Bay AreaInjury updates | NBC Sports Bay Area Staff | Biderman, Sac Bee | Associated Press via ESPN | Madson, Ninerswire49ers among leaders in yards after catch | Madson, Ninerswire