Will 49ers starters play in preseason finale vs. Raiders?

The San Francisco 49ers will wrap up their preseason slate Friday on the road against the Las Vegas Raiders.

Preseason got a little sideways for the 49ers when they had to cancel their joint practices with the New Orleans Saints ahead of their Week 2 matchup. That forced San Francisco to recalibrate how they’d utilize their starters in exhibition action.

They’re back on track now heading into the final week. Typically the 49ers use the third preseason game as a dress rehearsal for the regular season. It sounds like that’ll be the plan for San Francisco against the Raiders.

“Yeah, I’d like the starters to play,” head coach Kyle Shanahan said in press conference Tuesday. “We’ll see how today and tomorrow go, but that’s the plan.”

The 49ers will only get two practices in before traveling to Las Vegas for Friday’s kickoff. Tuesday’s session was light according to reporters on site at the team facility, and starters took all the reps since most of them didn’t play in Sunday’s preseason game.

Barring some kind of injury issue, the 49ers should play all of their available starters for at least a series. Some may play more than others, but the more important thing is for starters to get some real football in before Week 1 against the Jets.

The team will have to also balance reps for players still trying to make the team, and ensuring none of the starters are banged up in the exhibition finale.

Kickoff from Allegiant Stadium is slated for 7:00pm Pacific Time on Friday.