49ers notebook: Ansah possibly lost for season; Williams suffers another injury
The 49ers know they’ll be without Nick Bosa for the season after he tore his ACL Week 2. Dee Ford’s campaign might also be in peril as he deals with a mysterious back injury that landed him on injured reserve Saturday with no prognosis in sight.
And it looks like another San Francisco defensive end will be lost for the year, just two weeks into his stint with the team.
Ezekiel Ansah, who was brought in to provide a semblance of depth at defensive end before Week 3 against the Giants, suffered a biceps injury that might put him out for the season, the 49ers fear.
“That’s what it sounded like,” head coach Kyle Shanahan said after his team lost 25-20 to the Philadelphia Eagles Sunday night. “Everything that I’ve heard in there, sounds like that’s going to happen.”
Ansah’s injury would be the fourth significant ailment to a 49ers defensive end on a team that’s been built around it’s pass rush. The 49ers’ top three edge rushers last season, of course, were Bosa, Ford and Ronald Blair III, who isn’t eligible to return off the physically unable to perform list until Week 7 against the New England Patriots.
San Francisco currently has none of those players available, forcing the 49ers to rely on Kerry Hyder and Dion Jordan in key situations as they prefer to have Arik Armstead rush from the inside on passing downs. Jordan made one of the glaring defensive mistakes of the night when he crashed on the running back as quarterback Carson Wentz kept the ball on a zone read run for an easy first-quarter touchdown run Sunday night.
Bosa should be improving on his nine-sack rookie campaign, and Ford should be playing more than the 22 percent of defensive snaps last season. But now San Francisco will be forced to defend its conference championship without those three players, and losing Ansah for the year might force them to add another free agent or make a trade ahead of the Nov. 3 trade deadline.
Ansah, in two games since joining the 49ers, has not registered a tackle or sack. He wasn’t included in Sunday night’s box score before his exit. But surely his production would have ticked up after not having an offseason or training camp. He was signed off the street following Bosa’s injury.
Williams suffers another injury
Defensive back K’Waun Williams left the game in the fourth quarter with a knee injury. It was particularly concerning given he went straight to the locker room to be examined rather than the sideline.
Williams, one of the league’s premier slot cornerbacks, entered the week questionable with a hip injury and missed time in training camp with a calf injury. He was replaced late by Jamar Taylor, who was made active after signing to the practice squad officially Friday.
Taylor blitzed on his first snap in Williams’ stead and was credited with a sack with the help of Jordan. Taylor is familiar with San Francisco’s defense because he replaced Williams throughout training camp.
It’s clear that defensive end and cornerback are two of the 49ers’ most banged-up positions. Help could be coming in the secondary as Richard Sherman is eligible to return off injured reserve this week following his Week 1 calf injury. Ahkello Witherspoon (hamstring) practiced last week before being ruled out Friday and Emmanuel Moseley progressed enough through the concussion protocol to run around with his helmet on during last Thursday’s practice session.
▪ Receivers Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk sat on the bench during the playing of the national anthem. Running back Jerick McKinnon took a knee.
▪ Receiver Dante Pettis left the game momentarily with a knee injury and returned. The 2018 second-round draft pick has zero catches on the season and hasn’t been targeted since Week 1.
▪ Linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair’s first quarter interception was his first of the year. Al-Shaair started in place of Dre Greenlaw, who missed Sunday with a quadriceps injury.
This story was originally published October 5, 2020 at 6:21 AM.
