At this point before the regular season even begins, San Francisco 49ers fans have to be holding their collective breath at every snap, hoping and praying none of the team's impact players suffer some sort of serious injury.
The Niners dealt with plenty of injuries during their preseason Week 2 tilt against the Las Vegas Raiders, including a scary one when rookie running back Corey Kiner had to be carted off the field suffering an ankle injury.
Not long before, starting right guard Dominick Puni had his leg rolled up on a special teams play and was immediately ruled out for the rest of the game.
Those declarations following knee injuries are rarely good news, often pointing at a torn ACL or some other kind of season-ending injury.
Thankfully, the injury news for Puni isn't as bad as originally feared.
Dominick Puni likely to miss only a few weeks, 49ers are lucky
Late in the game, NBC Sports Bay Area's Jennifer Lee Chan shared a sideline photo of Puni walking around without a brace, albeit in street clothes, which isn't unusual for starters having exited exhibition bouts:
Also - no wraps or support devices on #49ers OL Dominic Puni’s knee pic.twitter.com/6BOw7quoQK
— Jennifer Lee Chan - also bluesky @jenniferleechan (@jenniferleechan) August 16, 2025
That was modestly good news, but the big question would be answered by head coach Kyle Shanahan after the game, which the Niners ultimately won 22-19 on a 59-yard field goal by kicker Jake Moody.
Shanahan told reporters the Round 3 pick from the 2024 NFL Draft who started right out of the gate is likely going to miss a few weeks with a probable PCL sprain.
Additionally, Shanahan revealed both Taylor (shoulder) and Kiner (ankle) will miss a similar amount of time, too.
49ers RG Dominick Puni will miss "a few weeks" with a "possible PCL" injury according to Kyle Shanahan.
RB Patrick Taylor will be out a couple of weeks with a dislocated shoulder.
RB Corey Kiner "most likely" has a high ankle sprain and is also expected to miss a few weeks.
— Kyle Posey (@KP_Show) August 16, 2025
Of those three, though, Puni is the lone starter. His absence would have been felt the greatest, especially considering the right side of San Francisco's offensive line is generally viewed as the weaker side.
Now, there won't be any guarantees about Puni's availability for Week 1 when the 49ers visit the Seattle Seahawks to kick off the regular season. With that date fast approaching on Sept. 7, there's still a good chance the former Kansas State lineman has to miss some meaningful action before returning in full.
That said, Shanahan and the Niners can be thankful Puni's injury wasn't much worse.
Read more from Niner Noise