49ers notebook: Ford receives injections; trick play with Garoppolo? Shanahan explains

The 49ers expect to miss one of their most important offseason additions for a chunk of training camp, coach Kyle Shanahan said Sunday.

Pass rusher Dee Ford’s troublesome knee tendinitis will keep him away from the field for roughly a week after being given platelet-rich plasma injections, Shanahan announced.

“I know we’re looking at it day to day, but that usually takes at least a week,” Shanahan said. “But, it’s something that I think will end up helping him. He could’ve toughed it out and stuff and gone through it like a lot of guys try to do, because guys are trying to make the team and they’re trying to get better. But we feel good about where Dee Ford’s at, and we wanted to make sure we took care of that so he could be fresh going into the year.”

Ford missed practices over the weekend after being removed from Friday’s session following individual drills. Ford’s workload, like many of his teammates, was limited early in camp while the team’s new training staff has emphasized limiting players to remain healthy for the start of the regular season.

Ford likely won’t suit up for the exhibition opener Saturday against the Dallas Cowboys before the 49ers travel for joint practices with the Denver Broncos ahead of their preseason tilt the following week.

Shanahan said Ford dealt with knee tendinitis with the Kansas City Chiefs. San Francisco expects time off and treatment to alleviate the issue, though Ford’s injury history is notable. He had two back surgeries surrounding his 2017 season in which he only appeared in six games.

“You hear about wear and tear on guys,” Shanahan said. “I mean, you get every medical report that they’ve ever had from their trainers and stuff and that’s been on lists and everything, so you hear about all of that. But, we have a number of guys with stuff like that. I mean, (Joe) Staley’s gone through stuff like that and usually you’ve got to do something like what we did once in the year and we thought it would be better to do it sooner than later.”

Ford’s absence has been filled by defensive ends Arik Armstead, Ronald Blair III and No. 2 pick Nick Bosa, whose strong first impression has been one of the 49ers’ most promising developments of camp. Getting Ford back healthy is paramount after giving him a five-year, $85 million contract in March, making him the club’s highest-paid defensive player.

Owners offer sarcastic take on Garoppolo’s trick play

The 49ers on Saturday dialed up a trick play in the end zone that made quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo a receiver, which caught the attention of team CEO Jed York.

“He said he really liked the play call that I had that Jimmy caught and made a cut right back into the defense. I speak sarcasm well, so I knew what he was saying,” Shanahan said. “We’re not going to run that play again. He didn’t tell me we can’t run the play again, but I saw it in his eyes and he was right.”

Garoppolo is coming off an ACL tear that cost him the final 13 games last season and proved to be a death knell of the team’s playoff hopes. It’s easy to see why York would rather avoid putting Garoppolo at risk with four years remaining on his five-year, $137.5 million contract.

So why was the play installed for Saturday’s practice?

“Because that’s a play that everyone does for two-point conversion versus man coverage,” Shanahan said, “and it should be wide open uncovered and Tarvarius Moore made a good play and sometimes you’ve got to tell them that’s a part of football. I’m not God; hopefully, Jimmy’s healthy. And I made sure it was to the right side. He cut on his right leg, so it was very thought out by me.”

Buckner returns

DeForest Buckner was back on the field after missing a handful of practices with a toe/foot injury. He worked at his customary starting defensive tackle spot and didn’t seem hampered.

Along with Ford, guard Joshua Garnett (dislocated finger), running back Jeff Wilson Jr. (calf) and cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon (glute) sat out practice.

Witherspoon’s absence led to free-agent signee Jason Verrett working with the starters at right cornerback opposite Richard Sherman. The 49ers have been encouraged by what they’ve seen from Verrett following his Achilles tear that cost him all of 2018 with the Chargers.