mercurynews.com file photo: San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo talks with the media on June 13th at Levis Stadium. Garoppolo will start opening day this Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings.

By Jeremy Harness

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — As the 49ers prepare to kick off the 2018 regular season, the expectations and the anticipation are completely different from a year before.

Of course, winning the last five games of the previous season, with a new, young quarterback at the helm, has a tendency to raise the excitement a little bit.

That’s what the 49ers are experiencing, as they travel to Minnesota to take on the Vikings to start the regular season. Of course, most people know about the acquisition of Jimmy Garoppolo, and the new signal-caller responding by winning the first five games he started for his new team.

But they have also added a few new pieces on defense over the past couple of years, which will add to an improved unit.

There have been a few bumps in the road, however. The 49ers suffered a major setback last week, when running back Jerick McKinnon suffered a torn ACL in practice during a non-contact drill, meaning that the back, whom the team signed this offseason to a four-year contract, will miss the entire 2018 season.

That opens up the opportunities for the other running backs exponentially. Matt Breida and Alfred Morris, whom the 49ers signed in training camp when McKinnon and Breida suffered injuries early on in the preseason, are expected to split the carries early on, but it is unclear who will be the team’s starting tailback.

Second-year linebacker Reuben Foster, who spent some time out of the lineup with a nagging shoulder injury last year, is suspended for the first two games of this season stemming from his domestic-abuse case this spring.

That means guys like Brock Coyle will get more of a chance to see what he can do, particularly when the games count.