The 49ers downgraded wide receiver Christian Kirk from questionable to out before Monday Night Football against the Commanders, per Pro Football Talk and Yahoo Sports. San Francisco also elevated two practice-squad players for the Week 6 game. Per NFL Trade Rumors, citing Matt Maiocoo, they were wide receiver Malik Turner and linebacker Jalen Graham.
Niners Nation's Kyle Posey supplied the most detail on Kirk. He had returned to practice the week before for the first time since a calf strain at the end of July. That left him nearly three months away from a football field, and Posey wrote that it wouldn't be surprising to see the team ease him back. The feed summary cuts off there, so we don't know what else Posey said. None of the four outlets gave a timeline for Kirk's return.
NFL Trade Rumors is the only outlet with background on Turner. He is 30 and signed with the Seahawks as an undrafted free agent out of Illinois in 2018. The rest of that summary is truncated.
The game itself went San Francisco's way. The 23-17 win over Washington made the 49ers 6-0 and kept them first in the NFC West, with a six-game winning streak. They built a 20-3 lead by the end of the second quarter and outgained Washington 375 yards to 314. The Commanders scored 14 points in the second half.
Graham played, and the box score credits him with three tackles (two solo) and a fumble recovery. The box score has no line for Turner. That means he either did not record a stat or did not play, and we can't tell which. Graham's 2025 totals were one tackle in three games.
The win also extended San Francisco's lead over the Seahawks. Seattle is 3-3 and has lost two straight, including a 32-29 loss to the 49ers on October 11. Practice-squad elevations only last one game, so the 49ers would have to elevate Turner and Graham again, or sign them, to keep them on the active roster. The 49ers next play at Atlanta on Sunday, October 25. Whether Kirk is available for that game depends on how his calf responds. The team has not said.
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