Similar to last season, the 49ers’ wide receiver room has been constantly changing because of injuries.
Ricky Pearsall, De’Zhaun Stribling, Demarcus Robinson and Christian Kirk are all on injured reserve. Mike Evans is their top receiver, but he missed practice Wednesday and Thursday with a rib injury before returning on a limited basis Friday. He was listed as questionable but ultimately active. Deebo Samuel Sr. has been their healthiest wide receiver this season, while Jacob Cowing and Jordan Watkins have been forced to move up the depth chart. KhaDarel Hodge was another receiver who recently moved up the depth chart, but he also suffered an injury and was subsequently released. San Francisco signed Brandin Cooks off its practice squad to replace Hodge. The 49ers also added Malik Turner to the practice squad Tuesday and elevated him for this game. Turner spent 2022, 2024 and 2025 on San Francisco’s practice squad, appearing in six games without recording a catch. His last NFL reception came in 2021. Evans played only 59. 1% of the offensive snaps but posted a 73. 5% route participation rate and was targeted on 32% of his routes. Watkins served as the backup X receiver and played the majority of the snaps in single-wide-receiver sets. Cowing was the third receiver in three-receiver sets, playing 100% of those snaps. Cooks was eased into action, while Turner didn’t play on offense. None of the receivers outside of Evans and Samuel are likely to have fantasy value unless one of the two misses time. Even if Evans does miss a game, however, Cooks could overtake Watkins as the backup X receiver sooner rather than later.