NFL Notes: Reuben Foster, 49ers, Broncos, Texans

49ers

49ers new HC Kyle Shanahan mentioned during an appearance on KNBR that he’s confident first-round LB Reuben Foster’s shoulder will be able to hold up, despite concerns around the league that he will require surgery at some point.

“The worst-case scenario is the shoulder doesn’t heal correctly and you’ve got to do it again,” Shanahan said, via SFGate.com. “When you have to do it again, you have to get another surgery and it would be tough to play this year, and you end up having him the next year.

“But it’s not something that would hurt him long-term. So the worst-case scenario, he wouldn’t end up being able to play for us right away. But I still don’t think how that would have changed how I personally felt about taking a guy with the 31st pick with the caliber of player that we took.”

According to Shanahan, the 49ers are comfortable with Foster’s shoulder injury and believe it’s recovering well.

“Our doctors do a great job,” Shanahan said. “They looked into everything with Reuben and met with him. Our doctors felt good about his shoulder. They thought it was recovering well. They didn’t have the same report a lot of other teams did.

“You never know who is going to end up being right. Everyone is trying to do their best to figure it out. But no one can tell the future. I just look at it as — you go with what your doctors say. And then you always think about ‘OK, what about the worse-case scenario?’”

Broncos

The Denver Broncos announced a number of changes to their personnel department on Thursday including:

• Tom Heckert has been named Senior Personnel Advisor
• A.J. Durso has been named Director of Pro Personnel
• Brian Stark has been named Director of College Scouting
• Nick Schiralli has been named Eastern Regional Scout
• Darren Mougey has been named Western Regional Scout
• Bryan Chesin has been named Midwest Area Scout
• Patrick Walsh has been named Player Personnel Assistant

Texans

Texans GM Rick Smith denied a recent report that they did not return phone calls from free agent QB Jay Cutler earlier in the offseason.

“I don’t know why that was reported,” Smith said, via FOX Sports. “That’s just not true. I will tell you that that is not true.”