The San Francisco 49ers should be in a better position to defend the Baltimore Ravens on Christmas Day after Friday's practice, but all the signs point to them being without a key starter for the third successive game.

San Francisco got good news on the defensive line as Javon Hargrave returned to practice following a hamstring injury that kept him out of last week's NFC West-clinching win over the Arizona Cardinals.

However, his starting defensive tackle running mate Arik Armstead remains on the sideline with foot and knee injuries, with the odds of him making his first appearance since the Week 13 win over the Philadelphia Eagles looking increasingly slim.

49ers injury report

Injury report observations

Head coach Kyle Shanahan confirmed what the injury report indicates regarding Armstead.

He told KNBR: "Armstead's a little bit more of a longshot, but we're going to wait to see. Hopefully, we can get all three (Hargrave, Armstead and running back Elijah Mitchell), but we're not going to rule anyone out until, at the earliest, tomorrow."

Hargrave's return should improve the 49ers' interior pass rush and a run defense that gave up 234 yards to the Cardinals, but another week on the sidelines for Armstead would leave San Francisco with just three healthy defensive tackles on the active roster for an imposing matchup with the Ravens' dynamic run game.

Niners backup tailback Mitchell was also back in practice in a limited capacity after missing the last two games with a knee problem.

Backup guard Ben Bartch was a new addition to the injury report with a finger issue, though it did not prevent him from practicing.

Beyond Armstead, only three other players missed practice through injury, with wide receiver Jauan Jennings' continued presence in the concussion protocol the most problematic of those additional problems.

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