Grim outlook? No playoffs? 49ers believe they can overcome myriad injuries
The 49ers, at the moment, are dealing with injuries to their two best defensive ends, franchise quarterback, star tight end, All-Pro cornerback, No. 1 receiver and top two running backs.
Yet the defending NFC champions remain optimistic about the outlook of their season, despite ailments to Nick Bosa and Dee Ford, Jimmy Garoppolo, George Kittle, Richard Sherman, Deebo Samuel and Raheem Mostert and Tevin Coleman.
Why?
Because it’s early enough for them to get a number of their key players back — and they believe they’ve been tested on the injury front before. Their experience and continuity can be assets, they’d argue. For now, Garoppolo, Kittle, Sherman, Samuel, Mostert and Coleman are expected back at some point in October, leaving the team plenty of time to make a playoff run in the expanded field of seven teams per conference.
Additionally, San Francisco’s next three games are against the Giants, Eagles and Dolphins, who are 0-6 combined heading into Miami’s game against the Jaguars Thursday night.
“I mean, we overcame injuries last year,” tight end George Kittle said Thursday over Zoom.
Kittle went on to point out the team lost its starting tackle, Joe Staley and Mike McGlinchey, for spurts during the 13-3 ride last season. Kittle himself missed two games in November with a chipped bone in his ankle and a popped capsule in his knee. Ford played just 22 percent of the snaps and the pass rush remained elite.
The key point about injuries and last year’s team, however, most of the key players who dealt with injuries returned and were healthy in time for the playoffs. And the team didn’t have any key season-ending injuries like the one suffered to Bosa, arguably the team’s most valuable defensive player, who tore his ACL last Sunday. Additionally, the team lost Solomon Thomas, the starter in place of DeForest Buckner, to the same injury just two snaps later.
“It’s tough when you lose two guys in similar positions on the D-line,” Kittle said, “especially Bosa, who in my opinion is one of the best football players in the NFL. But we just got to play for them.”
The 49ers have spent their virtual press conferences this week touting their depth in light of the injuries. Defensive end Kerry Hyder had a strong training camp and backed it up with encouraging play during his first two games of the season. But beyond Hyder is where things get concerning, particularly while Ford deals with a back injury that has no apparent time table for his return.
“I’m concerned because of what you just exactly said,” head coach Kyle Shanahan said about Ford. “When you’re dealing with a back injury, you really don’t know the timetable. I know he’s gotten some medicine this week that we’re hoping helps, but that’s a ‘wait and see’ approach.”
San Francisco this week added free agent Ezekiel Ansah off the street, who dealt with shoulder injuries the past two seasons while recording 6.5 sacks in 18 games with the Lions and Seahawks. The team also promoted Dion Jordan off the practice squad.
The three-pronged combination of Hyder, Ansah and Jordan will not make up for Bosa’s star power or Ford’s speed, but the 49ers are saying those three embody the philosophy of the defense to prevent a steep drop off.
“There’s a mindset in which we play and everyone understands what that mindset and that standard is,” defensive end Robert Saleh said. “The message is to not necessarily be who we are, but to go out there and understand that all these men can play professional football. They’re the best in the world at what they do and so the expectation is that we go in there and we play to the best of our ability and we trust that the result will be in our favor.”
Kittle pointed to what happened in 2018 when the team lost Garoppolo for the season Week 3. The 49ers went on to lose eight of their next nine before finishing 4-12. Despite it being a lost season from a record standpoint, it was important in the team’s development. It helped the team land Bosa with the No. 2 pick in the following draft, and taught the rest of the roster about overcoming obstacles which proved critical in overcoming injuries during the 2019 season.
“The biggest thing between ’18 and ’19 was we just figured out how to win those close games,” Kittle said. “Our young guys have figured that out. We’re kind of rolling with that mindset. We’re rolling and we’re going to ball. Our whole team just has that mindset that we’re going to take advantage of those opportunities.”