Asked if he's expecting those two back next week, Macdonald said, "I'd like to be. It's a process though. I know both guys are doing the best they can to hit the ground running. It's a little tricky when you're coming off a little bit of a break there, so there's some variables at work that we need to be able to kind of hit those landmarks. As much as you want them to be back as soon as possible, you also need to be responsible and make sure they're 100 percent so they can be ready to go. But right now, the majority of guys on IR, I think we're in a good spot where we have chance for them to come back sooner than later once they're activated."
Players coming back from injured reserve or other lists like the physically unable to perform list or non-football injury list can return to practice for up to three weeks before being added to the roster. And while Love and Saubert might not need that long of a ramp up period before being game ready, a player who will likely need longer is rookie defensive lineman Rylie Mills, who has been on the NFI list since the start of camp, the result of the torn ACL he suffered late in his senior season at Notre Dame. Mills is getting close to returning to practice, Macdonald said, but that won't mean immediate game action.
"We think we're getting within a couple weeks now of him starting to practice," Macdonald said. "Now, he's not one of those guys that would be activated then be ready to go; he's going to need some football work. But I think we're getting closer."
As for this week's injury report, Macdonald said guard Grey Zable, who injured his knee in Sunday's game against the Rams, will not practice Wednesday, nor will linebacker Tyrice Knight, who left the game with a concussion, or receiver Tory Horton, who has missed two games with a shin injury.
Asked about Horton's chances of playing this week, Macdonald said, "We'll see. It's really just a matter of it just calming down, so it could happen tonight, it could happen not tonight."