49ers pass rusher Dee Ford offering reasons to believe he can be 100% after back injury
Dee Ford participating in full-team drills early in training camp is an unexpected win for the 49ers.
“I’m just hoping it continues,” head coach Kyle Shanahan said Friday.
Ford, the pass rusher who missed 15 games in 2020 due to his third significant back injury since college, has been active during the first two weeks of practices after it was unclear how much he’d contribute in 2021.
The 49ers went so far as renegotiating Ford’s contract to lower his salary cap figure from roughly $17.5 million to $8.9 during the offseason, while also adding former Rams outside linebacker Samson Ebukam to offer a similar speed rush dynamic to the team’s talented defensive line.
San Francisco’s brass throughout the spring spoke as though Ford was a question mark after missing 15 games last season. But if the last two practices are any indication, Ford seems to be ahead of expectations.
“We know what he can do,” said Shanahan. “So I’m just hoping he keeps coming out there without any setbacks. Dee’s played in this league long enough so I’m just hoping that, any time the back has been like the last couple years, I just hope it doesn’t act back up.”
Ford on Friday spoke to the media for the first time since his complicated injury during the 2020 season opener. The team initially said Ford was dealing with a neck injury before later calling it a back issue. It raised red flags because Ford had two back procedures before coming to the 49ers via trade in 2019.
“It’s kind of like a chain effect,” Ford said. “Once one thing starts to be affected it starts to compensate. So it did start up top (of the back).”
He continued: “Initially when it happened it came out of nowhere I just woke up and I just felt a little pulling in areas where it shouldn’t have been. And it’s not safe to kind of push through that. Initially we thought it was just a bunch of inflammation and tightening around those areas. So we just wanted to calm it down.
“Initially it was four or five weeks. And then that turned into 10 weeks. And then it turned into 15 weeks. So we actually as things progressed we just kind of found out that this was going to take a little longer than we expected.”
Ford looking for Pro Bowl form
Ford spent the vast majority of the offseason working out at the 49ers facility, hoping to return to form that last made him a Pro Bowler with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2018, when he recorded 13.0 sacks and led the NFL with seven forced fumbles.
The Chiefs gave him the franchise tag and traded him to the 49ers for a second-round draft pick, and he signed a five-year, $87 million contract to give the team a much-needed threat off the edge.
The Ford acquisition paired well with No. 2 overall draft pick Nick Bosa, who transformed the defensive line to arguably the best in the league and helped San Francisco reach the Super Bowl that season.
The 49ers were without Bosa and Ford after just two games in 2020, which was a significant factor in their disappointing 6-10 finish. Bosa has continued to work his way back from his Week 2 ACL tear and has yet to participate in team drills — though Bosa said he expects to play in the season opener against the Detroit Lions Sept. 12.
Ford has been bothersome for 49ers’ offensive tackles since the pads came on Tuesday in his limited snap count. On Friday, the typically fast Ford used a bull rush against right tackle Mike McGlinchey for a would-be sack of Jimmy Garoppolo.
Ford detailed the type of work it took to regain the physical form to get to this point.
“With any back or spine situation, it’s all mobility and stability,” That sounds simple but it’s just a bunch of core work, a bunch of stretching, you have just got to do the right things and kind of allow it to go the way it does. There’s good days, bad days. You’ve just got to ride the wave. Most people would get frustrated and they will let it go.”
Friday practice observations
After impressing for the vast majority of practices since the pads came on, rookie quarterback Trey Lance had a handful of rough moments Friday.
There were two botched handoffs on zone read runs with running back Wayne Gallman before finishing practice with four-straight incompletions in a move-the-ball period. Lance had two incompletions over the previous two practices, combined.
The hype surrounding Lance through his first two weeks of pro practices has been warranted. He’s been outperforming expectations given he only had one game in 2020 with North Dakota State, where he played against lesser competition than other quarterbacks coming into the draft, like former Ohio State and Alabama stars Justin Fields and Mac Jones.
“I think he’s playing how he hoped he would,” Shanahan said. “You never know, so you don’t try to put a lot on guys. Just want to see what happens and put the offense in and see how he handles it. And he’s been handling a well, so getting better each day.”
Shanahan said on Monday he didn’t have any plans to give Lance reps with the starting unit. But his tone changed on Friday when he admitted Lance would get playing time in 2021, at least in situational packages, though he wouldn’t go as far as saying Lance would start games over incumbent starter Jimmy Garoppolo.
“Trey’s going to play for us this year,” Shanahan confirmed, before joking about reporters immediately taking his quote to social media. “But I mean that situationally he is going to get plays. Like that doesn’t mean that he’s going to go be a starter anything. He’s going to get plays and you’ve got to prepare him for that every way possible.”
Lance unofficially completed 7-of-12 passes during full-team drills on Friday, as did Garoppolo. Though Garoppolo seemed sharper than Lance for the first time since pads came on early in the week. Many of Lance’s completions on Friday were short or check downs, save for a jump ball he threw early in practice to receiver Travis Benjamin, who made the catch just over the outstretched arm of cornerback Dontae Johnson.
▪ Friday was a good practice for rookie safety Talanoa Hufanga, who worked with the second team. Hufanga made a handful of stops in the running game and had a would-be sack of Lance on a blitz during the final period of practice.
The 49ers on Friday took presumptive starting strong safety Jaquiski Tartt off the reserve/COVID-19 list and added him to the active/physically unable to perform list as he works his way back from a toe injury suffered in November.
▪ Cornerback Emmanuel Moseley on Friday practiced for the first time since landing on the reserve/COVID-19 list when training camp began. On the first passing play of team drills, working with the starters, he broke up a Garoppolo pass intended for Deebo Samuel along the sideline.
Moseley’s snap count was limited while Ken Webster worked played with the starters for most of the practice thereafter.
▪ San Francisco was thin along the defensive line. Arik Armstead, Ebukam, Zach Kerr and Kentavius Street were all unavailable. Anthony Zettel, a reserve who was with the team late in the 2019 season, announced his retirement.
▪ Saturday’s practice will be held inside Levi’s Stadium where some 18,000 fans are expected to be in attendance. It’s the first time fans have been allowed inside the stadium since the NFC Championship Game victory over the Green Bay Packers in January, 2020.
