The San Francisco 49ers defense had its share of issues against the Las Vegas Raiders offense on Friday during joint practice, but they have a chance to reverse course in a bigger setting - their first preseason game. While the stars of the 49ers are still intact, it has plenty of questions in terms of depth.
Sunday will be the first look at that depth as the starters likely won’t see much playing time—if any—at all. These are the three players on the defense that could start filling in those missing puzzle pieces:
DL Javon Kinlaw
Kinlaw seems the healthiest he’s been since the 49ers used the 14th overall pick on the defensive tackle in 2020.