‘It’s heartbreaking’: 49ers get a needed win but they ponder the cost of injuries
The 49ers gave the New York Jets a 31-13 beating Sunday, but it might not outweigh the thumping their chances took at returning to the Super Bowl because of a litany of new injuries.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan’s team was dealt potentially season-ending knee ailments to star defensive end Nick Bosa and former No. 3 overall draft pick Solomon Thomas. And quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo exited the game at halftime with a high ankle sprain.
Garoppolo’s status for next week’s game in doubt depending how his right ankle responds while the team practices in West Virginia.
Shanahan and his players in Zoom news conferences said it was good to get a much-needed win over New York following the dispiriting loss to Arizona in Week 1. But their emotions were clearly on their sleeve knowing they might have lost some key players for the rest of the year.
Bosa’s injury, likely a torn ACL, according to Shanahan, is the toughest injury. He was among the favorites to win Defensive Player of the Year coming into the season after his stellar rookie campaign. And the 49ers would be hard-pressed to maintain the defensive dominance they had during last season’s Super Bowl run with him sidelined.
“It’s heartbreaking,” left tackle Trent Williams said. “Nick, he’s a cornerstone of this team, he’s part of the nucleus. Not only that, he’s a shining star on the field. He has a bright future ahead of him.
“This is a part of the game nobody likes, nobody wants to talk about, nobody to likes to see that thing happen, especially to a premier player like Nick.”
Sherman, Ford and Kittle already hurt
San Francisco entered the weekend without star tight end George Kittle (knee sprain), Richard Sherman (calf) and Dee Ford (neck), who was ruled out on Saturday. Which means their quarterback, best player, leader of the secondary and best two pass rushers are all on the shelf. Two of their top running backs, Raheem Mostert and Tevin Coleman, also exited with knee injuries, though Shanahan did not have the same level of concern for theirs as he did for Bosa and Thomas.
“Football is amazing, but those guys that I play with are my brothers and how can I be happy when they’re going through tough situations?” defensive lineman Arik Armstead said.
Bosa left the game in the first quarter on a cart and was quickly ruled out. Shanahan says Bosa will undergo more testing Monday but it’s likely an ACL. He was less sure about Thomas’ prognosis. Thomas was carted off the field two snaps after Bosa left on the Jets’ second series of the game.
Garoppolo, meanwhile, twisted his ankle on the offense’s fourth snap, a sack from Quinnen Williams, and toughed out the first half before getting ruled out after halftime with a high ankle sprain. Garoppolo’s status for next week against the Giants is in doubt. Same for Mostert, who didn’t return after halftime due to a knee injury.
Mostert scored his second long touchdown of the young season, an 80-yard run up the right sideline on the first offensive snap, setting the tone for the 49ers’ beatdown. Garoppolo was sharp despite being visibly hobbled. He completed 14 of 16 for 131 yards with two touchdown passes to tight end Jordan Reed. His passer rating: 140.4 before giving way to Nick Mullens, who led field goal and touchdown drives in the second half. He also threw an interception.
Much of the talk after the game revolved around the newly installed field turf at MetLife Stadium, where the 49ers will also play the Giants next week. Shanahan said players were mentioning how sticky it was before the game and throughout. The team believes the turf played a significant role in the long list of knee and ankle issues coming out of the game.
“I don’t know exactly why it happened, as far as the feeling that was on the sidelines, that’s as many knee injuries and ankle stuff and people getting caught on the turf as I’ve ever been a part of,” Shanahan said. “From what I saw, the other team did too. I know our players talked about it the entire game, just how sticky the turf was. ... But yeah, it was something our guys were concerned about right away. And the results definitely made that a lot stronger. Unfortunately this is the place we got to go back to next week.”
Ford on Friday was listed as questionable to play Sunday after missing the last two practices of the week. He was downgraded to out on Saturday once the team received the results from more testing. Shanahan said Ford remains day-to-day. Regardless, the team’s depth along the defensive line will continue to get tested.
Backups step into key roles
Defensive end Kerry Hyder was one the players to see his role expand as Sunday went on against the Jets’ porous offense. He finished second on the team with eight combined tackles and two quarterback hits. Armstead added a sack, three quarterback hits and broke up a pass.
As far as reinforcements go, the team could promote former first-round draft choice Dion Jordan off the practice squad. The team also worked out veteran free agent Ezekiel Ansah recently, though the two sides didn’t come together on a contract. Ronald Blair III can’t come back from the physically unable to perform list until Oct. 25 against the Patriots after tearing his ACL last November.
At quarterback, Mullens would get the nod if Garoppolo has to miss time. Mullens finished with 8-for-11 for 71 yards and an interception. He replaced Garoppolo for most of the 2018 season after he went down with a knee injury early that season. Mullens played admirably, averaging 8.3 yards per attempt with a 90.8 passer rating. It was just his second season after going undrafted and San Francisco went 3-5 in his starts.
All the injuries are going to force the 49ers to rely on a number of non-stars to keep the team afloat.
“I just told the guys that we do have a good team, but there’s also so many guys in our place that would get a lot better, coaches and players,” Shanahan said. “When you do lose some good guys, like we did, it’ll probably be fore a while, we need guys to get better. There’s a number of guys who can improve on our team and that’s just what we got to focus on doing.”
This story was originally published September 20, 2020 at 3:12 PM.
