49ers Nick Bosa, Solomon Thomas done for season with torn ACLs
The 49ers’ fears surrounding the injury to star defensive end Nick Bosa and defensive tackle Solomon Thomas have been realized.
MRIs on Monday confirmed Bosa, the reigning defensive rookie of the year, and Thomas both tore the anterior cruciate ligament in their left knees and will miss the remainder of the season. Bosa was carted off the field in the first quarter of Sunday’s 31-13 victory over the New York Jets and Thomas was carted off two snaps later.
San Francisco has been decimated by injuries since the summer and Bosa’s injury toughest the team has dealt with so far. He’s arguably the team’s most valuable defensive player after quickly becoming one of the league’s premier defensive ends during his standout 2019 campaign.
Bosa had 9.0 sacks while appearing in all 16 regular season contests as a rookie, and added four sacks in three playoff games. Bosa had a case for Super Bowl MVP had the 49ers’ maintained their lead against the Kansas City Chiefs in early February.
Thomas, meanwhile, was the No. 3 pick in the 2017 draft. And while he hasn’t lived up to his draft status, with just six sacks in his first three seasons, he figured to be a key player in the team’s effort to replace star defensive tackle DeForest Buckner, who was traded to the Indianapolis Colts in March. Thomas started San Francisco’s first two games against the Cardinals and Jets in Buckner’s place.
The 49ers on Monday agreed to sign free agent defensive end Ezekiel Ansah to fill in and provide depth. Arik Armstead and Kerry Hyder figure to get the majority of snaps at defensive end with Bosa out. Ronald Blair III is also an option but he can’t return until Week 7 as he remains on the physically unable to perform list after tearing his ACL last November.
“You can’t do it with one guy. Everyone’s got to step it up. Everyone knows how great of a player Nick is,” head coach Kyle Shanahan said on a zoom conference Monday. “
Shanahan said the team has dealt with adversity before, mentioning 2018 when quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo suffered the same injury in the third game of the season. The 49ers had playoff expectations going into the season but wound up 4-12 and with the No. 2 pick in the draft, which they used on Bosa, largely because of Garoppolo’s injury.
“Yeah, when you lose a great guy like that, it’s tough,” said Shanahan. “But, you can look in our (position) rooms and know that we’ve still got a lot of guys out there who can go play good football and give us a chance to win every game that we show up for.”
Replacing Bosa could be even more difficult given the state of injuries to other prominent players. Pro Bowl defensive end Dee Ford missed Sunday’s game with what the team is now calling a back injury after Shanahan described it as “neck spasms” last week. The 49ers have had bad luck with back injuries in recent seasons, most notably to rookie receiver Jalen Hurd in 2019, who missed the entire season with a stress fracture.
The 49ers have more options to replace Thomas, who has been moved to defensive tackle full time this season. The team used the draft pick it acquired in the Buckner trade for hulking “three technique” Javon Kinlaw, who has shown flashes of promise in the early going. Kevin Givens and Kentavius Street should also get plenty of time alongside nose tackle D.J. Jones.
San Francisco also came out of Sunday’s game dealing with injuries to Garoppolo (high ankle sprain), running backs Raheem Mostert (knee) and Tevin Coleman (knee), Jones (ankle) and linebacker Dre Greenlaw (thigh contusion).
Mostert and Coleman are expected to miss multiple games. The prognoses for Jones and Greenlaw are unknown.
Those are just the new injuries.
The 49ers are heading into Week 3 dealing with injuries to star tight end George Kittle (knee sprain), cornerback Richard Sherman (injured reserve, calf), receiver Deebo Samuel (injured reserve, foot) and center Weston Richburg (physically unable to perform list, knee).
This story was originally published September 21, 2020 at 4:40 PM.