As we approach the last game of the preseason, it's all about keeping guys healthy.  The 49ers have done fairly well in keeping healthy (KNOCK ON WOOD) and they're taking serious precautions this Friday against San Diego.  The first-team units will apparently only play a series or so.

Of course, with some of the recent injuries, the question becomes who will be out there and who will be on that first unit.  Brian De La Puente has an arm injury that has sidelined him recently.  Today saw Tony Wragge move over to left guard and Chilo Rachal took over at right guard.  However, David Baas is due back to the practice field this week, so we could see the Baas-Wragge combination at guard.

Some folks who missed practice include Keith Lewis and Josh Morgan due to illness.  On the other hand, Arnaz Battle and Ashley Lelie were finally able to take part in team reps today.  I'll have a bigger post about the wide receivers tomorrow, but Lelie certainly has his work cut out for him in the next five days.  Nolan has said he's on the fence about keeping 5 or 6 receivers so Lelie needs to give him a reason if he wants to stick around.

As for Friday's game, Nolan has indicated Adam Snyder, Jonas Jennings and Allen Rossum are all likely out.  Robert Ortiz will be returning punts, with Michael Robinson and Delanie Walker getting some action in the kick return game.  It's good to see Robinson back on the field.

In a somewhat related note, the final cutdown to the 53-man roster has to happen by Saturday.  Since that's the day after an evening game, I'm planning on doing a final 53-man projection on Wednesday or Thursday.  If there is anything that could dramatically affect a given player I'll throw up a post but if nothing big happens I probably won't since cuts could happen pretty quickly, making a same-day post rather dated.  Game-time decision.

The significance of the third preseason game goes beyond the extended play of the starters. I'll get into some more game breakdown later this afternoon, but I thought a quick look at the roster would be useful.  Next Monday, August 26, is the deadline for teams to cut their rosters down from 81 players to 75 players.  That is rather quickly followed by the August 30th deadline of cutting down to 53 players.

Back in early June I put together a practice squad projection.  The actual 8-man practice squad I came up with was pretty much guesswork.  However, the process I used to whittle down the spots was rather helpful for purposes of looking at the approaching cutdown dates.  I came up with three groups: 1) Ineligible for the practice squad, so on the bubble of making the 53-man roster or being cut; 2) Eligible for the practice squad but somewhat of a chance of making the 53-man roster, so on the bubble of making the 53-man or practice squad; and 3) eligible for the practice squad, but slim to no chance of making the 53-man roster, so on the bubble between the practice squad and being cut.

I thought I'd update that as a way of working out the first six to be cut, and next week, the remaining 22 to be cut.

1. 53-man/Cut
FB Zak Keasey, FB Moran Norris, WR Ashley Lelie OT Alan Reuber, LB Roderick Green, LB Dennis Haley, DE Atiyyah Ellison, DB Marcus Hudson, DB Markus Curry, TE Cooper Wallace, DT Walter Curry, DE LaJuan Ramsey

2. 53-man/Practice Squad
LB Jay Moore, RB Thomas Clayton, DT Joe Cohen, WR Dominique Zeigler

3. Practice Squad/Cut
QB Kyle Wright, WR Cam Colvin, LB Shaun Richardson, S D.J. Parker, S Lewis Baker, WR Jerard Rabb, G Brian De La Puente, DE Louis Holmes, G John Booker, TE J.J. Finley, P Ricky Schmitt, WR Robert Ortiz, OT Ramiro Pruneda

I included both Keasey and Moran Norris on the 53-man/Cut list because I can't figure out what the 49ers are going to do at the full back position.  Based on my projections, if they only keep one of the two, there would be 1 roster spot left, which would go to one player in the above groups.

In trying to figure out the first six players to be cut, I'm curious how the practice squad plays into it.  Would you be more likely to cut someone with no practice squad eligibility because you want a few more days of practice to see if the PS-eligible is worthy of the practice squad?  Or maybe I'm over-thinking it.

I think Cooper Wallace is a definite first cut as he has no PS eligibility and is at a position where has absolutely no hope of making the roster.  I think Markus and Walter Curry both fit this mold.  Would the team keep P/K Ricky Schmitt for the practice squad, or give him a few extra days to latch on somewhere else?  Robert Ortiz only made the roster after Robert Jordan left to deal with a death in the family.  I'd like to see Jordan return and make the practice squad.  OT Ramiro Pruneda is part of the international practice squad program but he has been a DNP in all three games.  Unless there are rules about him finishing training camp, I'd imagine he gets cut sooner, rather than later.

Just like that I've come up with six guys.  So I suppose you can consider that my prediction for next Monday.  This is about as productive as the practice squad projection, but what the heck, right?

WR Robert Jordan was released by the 49ers today and replaced by free agent WR Robert Ortiz.  While Jordan was released it was not the usual cut, as Jordan asked for his release.  Jordan has had a death in his family and will be away from the team for an indefinite amount of time.  It's a shame, but hopefully he'll get a second chance with the team.  Mike Nolan specifically said he'd like to bring Jordan back at some point.  Best wishes to the Jordan family.

Robert Ortiz was previously with the Patriots, where he was waived last week.  He was originally signed by the Chargers as an undrafted free agent out of San Diego State.  From his old Chargers bio:

COLLEGE: Home-grown product finished career at San Diego State with 137 catches for 1,620 yards and 13 touchdowns…became starter after walking on to school’s football team…team’s second-leading receiver junior and senior seasons…had breakout junior season, tying for team lead with six touchdown catches and ranking second with 52 catches for 728 yards…caught seven passes for career-high 125 yards and touchdown in 2004 game against Michigan in “Big House”…redshirted in 2001…played at San Diego State from 2001-05…earned degree in communications.

Throw in 27 receptions for 255 yards and two TDs in NFL Europe in 2007 and we'll see if evolves into more than just a camp body.  I'd take Jordan over him because of the Cal connection, but maybe Ortiz can show something in camp.