The San Francisco 49ers flew halfway around the world with a familiar problem and a new name attached to it. They still have not named a starting left guard.
That would be awkward in any opener. It is something else when the first opponent is the Los Angeles Rams and Aaron Donald is back in a helmet.
Donald ended a 2 1/2-year retirement last weekend and signed a one-year deal with the Rams. He is 35. He has three Defensive Player of the Year awards, 111 career sacks and a Super Bowl ring. He also has not played a regular-season snap since January 2024.
The 49ers open Thursday night at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The game is already strange enough: international site, Thursday kickoff, long flight, short week. Adding Donald turns the offensive line into the first real story of the Shanahan era’s 10th season.
Kyle Shanahan was asked last week who would start at left guard. He did not pick a name.
“We haven’t had [those] three practices yet [this week] and we just added a new guy [guard/center Jarrett Patterson] to the group, too,” Shanahan said. “So, it’s truly fluid.”
Fluid is not what you want to hear when Donald is lining up inside.
Connor Colby took first-team snaps at left guard in an early walkthrough after camp. Rookie Carver Willis, who had been working with the ones, slid back with the reserves. Patterson, acquired from Houston, has played both guard and center. None of that amounts to a settled plan.
General manager John Lynch did not pretend the Donald news was part of San Francisco’s summer script.
“Never thought he’d do it,” Lynch said the day after the announcement.
The Rams traded for Myles Garrett in June. That move, Lynch said, is what got people around the building talking. Shanahan’s reaction, as Lynch later recounted it, was not the John Wooden line about ignoring the other guy.
Donald has been practicing in Los Angeles. Whether he plays a full complement of snaps Thursday is still a day-to-day question for Sean McVay. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler said Sunday that Donald made the trip and could be on a pitch count if he plays. McVay has refused to lock in a plan.
“I’m not going to talk about any sort of plans. It’s going to be a day at a time for us,” McVay said after Donald’s first practice back.
Donald sounded less cautious about his own body.
“Do I feel like I can play at a high level? Yes,” Donald said. “Do I feel like I can still be myself? 100%. If I didn’t feel like that I wouldn’t be here.”
That is the part that should keep San Francisco’s offensive staff up late in Melbourne.
The 49ers already entered camp thin on the interior. Injuries and cutdown decisions left the line looking unfinished. Left tackle Trent Williams can still set an edge. The interior is where Donald has spent a decade wrecking game plans, collapsing pockets and turning second-and-seven into third-and-impossible.
San Francisco’s offense is built on timing. Brock Purdy needs a clean platform. Christian McCaffrey needs creases. George Kittle’s availability is its own subplot after an Achilles injury. If the left guard spot is still a committee four days before kickoff, the first series against Donald and Garrett will tell on them fast.
The Rams do not have to play Donald 60 snaps to change the game. They only have to put him in obvious passing downs and let Garrett work the edge. San Francisco’s pass rush has its own health questions. Nick Bosa is coming off an ACL tear and tendonitis. That is a different story. This one is simpler.
Somebody has to block No. 99.Shanahan has a week of practice in Australia to pick a name. He may still be rotating bodies when the ball is spotted Thursday. Donald may be limited. He may not play at all. The 49ers cannot plan on either of those things.
They have to pick a left guard anyway.
For a team that talks every year about winning the line of scrimmage, that is an uncomfortable way to start a season on the other side of the world.
