49ers rookie DeAndre Smelter won’t play in 2015
SANTA CLARA -- The deadline for moving DeAndre Smelter to the 53-man roster passed Monday, which means the 49ers rookie receiver won’t be able to play -- or practice -- with the team over the last four weeks.
Smelter, a fourth-round draft pick, tore his ACL while playing at Georgia Tech on Nov. 29, 2014 and is roughly a year removed from the surgery to repair it. He had been permitted to practice with the 49ers over the last three weeks but now reverts to the non-football-injury/reserve list.
The 49ers have a surplus of wideouts; both Jerome Simpson and DeAndrew White were healthy scratches for Sunday’s win over the Bears.
Smelter was on a timetable similar to that of center Daniel Kilgore, who was on the physically-unable-to-perform list to start the season. Kilgore was moved to the 53-man roster Saturday and ended up playing six snaps -- his first since Oct. 19, 2014 -- against Chicago.
Matt Barrows: @mattbarrows, read more about the team at sacbee.com/sf49ers.
This story was originally published December 7, 2015 at 3:27 PM with the headline "49ers rookie DeAndre Smelter won’t play in 2015."