49ers mailbag: Who’s to blame for injuries? Who starts with Mostert out?

Before we get going on our mailbag, there was a bit of non-football related news Tuesday.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced sports teams can begin hosting fans at games in California under softened COVID-19 guidelines. That means the team will begin working with Santa Clara County to potentially begin allowing a limited number of fans for their next game Nov. 5 against the Green Bay Packers.

Nothing is official yet, but Newsom’s declaration is the first step of the process. The team issued a statement indicating as much Tuesday afternoon. We’ll have more details as they come in. But the upshot here is there’s a chance fans will be in attendance for a potentially big game against Green Bay. We’ll have more details as they come.

And now, to the mailbag!

@antscd asks: I know that football is a violent sport, and injuries are part of the game. But are all the injuries just bad luck? Or are John Lynch/Kyle Shanahan at least partially responsible for it? The changes in the athletics department don’t seem to have helped.

I’d lean toward bad luck. It’s been pointed out before in this space that the 49ers aren’t the only team dealing with a rash of injuries. The Eagles, Cowboys and Broncos have been similarly creamed by injured reserve.

But the question about the training staff is worth asking. The 49ers have had a number of players deal with setbacks in their recoveries recently. Ronald Blair III, Weston Richburg, Richard Sherman and Dee Ford come to mind. Last year, Jalen Hurd, Trent Taylor and Jerick McKinnon had issues trying to come back from their injuries before missing the entire season.

Is that poor management from the performance staff or just part of the violent game? It’s hard to know. It’s worth pointing out how difficult having a clean regular season has been after the pandemic wrecked teams’ spring conditioning programs. To me, the setbacks are more concerning than the injuries themselves.

@ProdbyJohnnylee asks: JaMycal Hasty or Jerick McKinnon RB1 until Raheem Mostert comes back ?

I have to think McKinnon will be the starter while Jeff Wilson Jr. and Hasty will get worked into the mix. McKinnon remains the most versatile and the best pass catcher of that trio.

But I think Hasty has shown enough to warrant more playing time. Shanahan mentioned Monday how the team benefited from getting Hasty’s fresh legs in the game during the second half in which he picked up a couple crucial first downs, including a 10-yard run on the final possession that iced the game.

The 49ers like Wilson’s size and physicality. He’s also been used as a pass catcher, notably on the game-winning play last November against Arizona and in the Super Bowl. He’s expected to suit up this week after a midweek calf injury kept him from playing against the Rams.

@TraveseGage asks: Do you see a s making a move for Alex Mack now that garland is out for a while?

Maybe if the 49ers were 4-2, or better, instead of 3-3.

It’s hard to see them doling out draft capital and limiting their cap space even further by adding someone like Mack, who is making $10.5 million this season. The team would have to think he would lead to a dramatic improvement and spur a Super Bowl run.

As long as Bosa, Ford and Sherman remain out, I don’t think the 49ers are looking at themselves the same way they did last season when they made the move for Emmanuel Sanders that completed the offense. Shanahan said after the fact the 49ers made that trade because they thought they were the best team in the NFL. They are a couple tiers below that right now.

@Carakara2011 asks: If Niners continue to struggle and miss out on playoffs do you still see Saleh being a hot head coaching candidate or do you envision him returning?

With the exception of the Dolphins game, and the Brian Allen disaster, the 49ers have played pretty well defensively considering all their injury woes. They rank 10th in the NFL in opponents’ scoring, fifth in yardage and 11th in yards per play.

That said, six games is a small sample, and they’ve gone against some struggling quarterbacks and offenses like the Jets, Giants and Eagles, and even Rams quarterback Jared Goff wasn’t sharp Sunday night. He missed a handful of throws he should have made that didn’t have anything to do with San Francisco’s defense.

Surely Saleh won’t be as hot a name as he was during last season’s coaching cycle when his defense was one of the best in the NFL, and statistically the best against the pass in a decade. But I don’t think he’s worse as a coach just because of all the injuries. He seems likely to get a head coaching job, at some point, but it seems like a 50-50 proposition this offseason.

That could be good news for the 49ers, who would have their defensive coordinator in place for a fifth-straight season. That hasn’t happened since Bill McPherson from 1989-1993.

@niner_raul asks: When is Richard Sherman coming back from injury ?

My guess right now he’ll begin practicing next week ahead of the Seahawks game, but that doesn’t mean he’ll play against his old team. It could be to allow him to get three practices under his belt before the short week and Thursday game against the Green Bay Packers.

Shanahan said last week Sherman was resting to see if the injections he took in his calf reduced inflammation. There’s been no update since. We could know more Wednesday.

@Islandsurfah247 asks: Who plays slot CB when Sherman returns? Jamar Taylor or Emmanuel Moseley? I don’t see them taking Jason Verrett off the field.

I agree that Verrett is likely staying in the starting lineup when Sherman comes back. He’s been one of the best corners in the league this season, which is easily the best development of San Francisco’s lackluster campaign so far.

I think the 49ers might stick with Taylor for at least one game before moving him. He worked in the slot extensively during training camp while Moseley got his reps outside. Moseley is the better player, but Taylor seems more comfortable in that role. We haven’t seen Moseley play in the slot for a season or two.

K’Waun Williams will eligible to return off injured reserve after this weekend’s game against the Patriots. So it could be that his return aligns with Sherman and the 49ers don’t have to worry about finding an answer to this question.

@GregDMroz asks: Any chance they take a flier on Prince Amukamara? Bears cut him for cap reasons but he’s still an effective CB.

I don’t think so. San Francisco received excellent cornerback play Sunday night from Moseley and Verrett and will likely continue to bank on that duo until Sherman’s return.

But if there’s another rash of injuries, which seems likely given how 2020 has gone so far, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the 49ers make a move like that in order to avoid another Brian Allen situation.

This story was originally published October 21, 2020 at 7:09 AM.