49ers fearing season-ending injury to DT D.J. Jones
The 49ers fear defensive tackle D.J. Jones could be done for the season after sustaining an ankle injury Sunday in New Orleans.
“A little worried about it,” Kyle Shanahan said Wednesday. “We’re waiting on some other opinions and stuff. But it’s a pretty significant (injury).”
Jones sprained an ankle in the Dec. 1 loss to the Baltimore Ravens, but Shanahan said it was a different ankle that he hurt Sunday. Jones is having a strong campaign in the middle of the 49ers’ dominant defensive front, particularly as a run defender. The 2017 sixth-round draft pick from Mississippi has two sacks and 23 tackles, including four for loss.
The news comes on the heels of San Francisco losing two players for the year earlier this week: receiver Marquise Goodwin (foot, knee) and center Weston Richburg (torn patellar tendon).
San Francisco is growing thin along the defensive line as Jullian Taylor, one of Jones’ backups, has been dealing with an elbow issue that was initially expected to keep him out of Sunday’s game against the Atlanta Falcons. The team lost defensive ends Ronald Blair III (torn ACL) and Damontre Moore (fractured forearm) earlier in the year.
Additionally, defensive end Dee Ford is expected to miss multiple games after aggravating a hamstring strain in the first half of Sunday’s win.
The list of injuries make it likely the team activates defensive lineman Kentavius Street, Shanahan said. Street had his practice window opened Dec. 4 after he began the year on injured reserve. In August he dealt with complications from a torn ACL that kept him out of his rookie season in 2018. He sustained the injury leading up to the NFL draft, where the 49ers took him in the fourth round.
Shanahan listed a slew of possible replacements for Jones with Taylor sidelined, including Street, Sheldon Day, Arik Armstead, DeForest Buckner and Solomon Thomas. But none are natural nose tackles which could make Jones’ injury a significant loss with three games left before the playoffs.
This story was originally published December 11, 2019 at 1:20 PM.