Breida (ankle) is expected to face more competition out of the backfield in 2019 with Jerick McKinnon (knee) returning from injury, Joe Fann of the 49ers' official site reports.
Breida was expected to handle the smaller portion of a timeshare before McKinnon suffered a torn ACL eight days before the start of the regular season. The second-year pro responded with a monstrously efficient campaign, averaging 5.3 yards on 153 carries and 9.7 yards on 27 catches (31 targets) despite playing through an ankle sprain for most of the year. Breida finally landed on injured reserve for Week 17, but there hasn't been any report of offseason surgery being in the works. He'll likely return to health long before McKinnon and have the benefit of two seasons of experience under coach Kyle Shanahan. The San Francisco backfield will require close monitoring throughout the offseason and into training camp, as the team presumably hopes to carve out major roles for both Breida and McKinnon, assuming the latter makes a full recovery.