‘What the hell was that?’: 49ers upset over dead-ball hit on Hoyer | The Sacramento Bee

Brian Hoyer left Sunday’s game with a cut over his right eye and a sense of disbelief that no penalty was called on the hit that caused it.

The play in question occurred in the third quarter after the 49ers called a timeout with the play clock winding down. Left tackle Joe Staley and several other players heard the officials blow the whistle and stopped playing, but Seattle Seahawks defensive end Frank Clark did not.

Clark sprang across the line of scrimmage untouched and crashed into the quarterback. No penalty was called on the play, which led to a demonstrative protest from Staley.

“… I just stopped,” Staley said. “The guy still killed the quarterback. And I’m like, ‘Unnecessary roughness! What the hell was that?’ And they’re like, ‘You can’t even hear ... no one can hear the whistle.’ And I’m like, ‘I blatantly heard it.’ I heard it for three seconds.”

Hoyer, who had a mark on his forehead and a band-aid above his right eye after the game, said he heard the whistle as well and figured the play was dead.

“I think everybody heard the whistle,” he said.

Ward makes debut – The 49ers wanted to ease safety Jimmie Ward into action Sunday after he missed 1 1/2 months with a hamstring strain. An injury to another safety, Eric Reid, meant that Ward played the entire second half.

Reid said he hurt his knee late in the second quarter when his left cleat got caught in the CenturyLink Field turf. He re-entered the contest in the second half but twice collapsed and eventually was pulled from the game.

Coach Kyle Shanahan said the 49ers medical staff initially determined that Reid had avoided a serious knee injury but that he may have worsened the injury by returning to the game. He’ll have an MRI on Monday.

The initial plan was for Ward to be the team’s third safety who enters when the 49ers are in their dime defense. When Reid left, Jaquiski Tartt took over at strong safety while Ward replaced Tartt at free safety.

That’s the likely arrangement for Thursday’s game against the Los Angeles Rams. The 49ers also have rookie safeties Lorenzo Jerome and Adrian Colbert in reserve.

Solomon starts, Lynch sacks – First-round draft pick Solomon Thomas, who received low marks in his NFL debut last week, started Sunday because the 49ers were in their nickel defense to begin the game.

Like the rest of the defense, Thomas was far more disruptive in Week 2, finishing with four tackles – two of them behind the line of scrimmage – to go along with a quarterback hit. Defensive end Aaron Lynch, who was inactive last week, was used heavily and had the 49ers’ first sack of the season.

Tank Carradine and Arik Armstead also had sacks for San Francisco.

Et cetera – Newcomer Laken Tomlinson replaced Zane Beadles at left guard and had big blocks on Carlos Hyde’s two longest runs of the day. “I didn’t notice him much,” Kyle Shanahan said when asked about Tomlinson. “And that’s usually a good thing when it comes to the offensive line.”

▪ Linebacker Ray-Ray Armstrong started in place of Reuben Foster (ankle), Armstrong’s first start since Sept. 20, 2015, when he was with the Raiders. He was briefly replaced by Brock Coyle in the second quarter.

▪ Undrafted rookie receiver Victor Bolden Jr. was active Sunday and handled kick-return duties while Kendrick Bourne, also an undrafted rookie receiver, was inactive. The situation was reversed in Week 1.