The San Francisco 49ers are already dealing with a slew of serious injuries, and the regular season hasn't even began yet.
Unfortunately, Week 2 of the preseason against the Las Vegas Raiders hasn't exactly been friendly to the Niners' injury front either.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan fielded a number of his starters early in the exhibition bout, largely because of the injury issues, yet that also came with the increased risk of more injuries to key players, even if they only saw a modest bit of game time.
And it appears as if the injury bug bit yet again, as starting right guard Dominick Puni was removed with what was first declared as an unreported injury, and San Francisco subsequently declared him out for the rest of the contest. This first appeared on the NFL GSIS feed, but NBC Sports Bay Area's Matt Maiocco subsequently confirmed the news:
The 49ers report an injury for Dominick Puni, who is out for the game. More info to come.
— Matt Maiocco (@MaioccoNBCS) August 16, 2025
49ers will hold their breath on Dominick Puni injury news
Subsequent reports, including the KPIX 5 television broadcast, announced Puni suffered a knee injury that ruled him out.
Not exactly good news.
On the hopeful side, it's likely Puni was going to be pulled from the game around that point anyway, and the 49ers are just being cautious with him. On the other, being ruled out immediately after a knee injury isn't exactly the most positive of updates fans could receive, potentially suggesting it's much more serious than anyone would like.
The Niners were expecting big things from Puni, the second-year pro who started all 17 games his rookie year and appears to be the next stalwart on an otherwise unimpressive offensive line behind left tackle Trent Williams.
If there's a plus to Puni going out, it'd be extra field time for developmental pieces, including seventh-round rookie guard Connor Colby, who started on the left side.
Ideally, though, San Francisco anticipates getting Puni back as soon as realistically possible.
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