24 Hours Later: Jordan Reed out long-term, Dee Ford also downgraded

Injury outlooks worsen, and a defensive dilemma.

Sep 29, 2020

Kyle Shanahan speaks to the media regarding Week 3’s win against the New York Giants - San Francisco 49ers/YouTube

(Santa Clara) - The 49ers have got out of New York finally, and well, not without more injuries. Jordan Reed, who had originally injured his ankle on an attempted TD reception, has been diagnosed with an MCL sprain and according to Kyle Shanahan, will be out for “6 to 8” weeks at minimum. A massive blow to a team already hurting offensively - Reed has been one of the best 49ers offensive players so far this season, and was a massive boon to a team that lacked WR talent to start, and with multiple injuries. Reed has been placed on the short-term IR. That is two TEs with MCL sprains now, which is brutal.

Worse, this makes George Kittle’s role much bigger in this offense - which does not bode well because he will be playing through a MCL sprain, bone bruise, and torn labrum. All at the same time. Yikes. Kittle is a warrior but if he keeps taking this type of punishment, he won’t last very long. The 49ers medical staff, and frankly the whole front office needs to be much smarter - putting Reed back in the game likely worsened his injury outlook, as it did with Jimmy Garoppolo just one week prior.

As if things weren’t already bad on the defensive side of the ball, we now know that Dee Ford’s injury outlook has significantly worsened. The 49ers are now considering placing him on the short-term IR which would rule him out for at least 3 weeks.

David Lombardi @LombardiHimself

The 49ers are considering putting Dee Ford on IR this week, and they can’t add a retroactive date to that decision. That means they’re anticipating at least three more weeks of absence for Ford (back), and likely more

The key point: “likely more”. Matt Maiocco had this excerpt of Shanahan in his article.

Coach Kyle Shanahan said Monday that Ford’s back condition has not improved much, and the 49ers will determine this week whether to place him on injured reserve.

Ford’s outlook seems to worsen every week - and his future with the 49ers: grim. The chances of him being a 49er next year are not only slim, I would put it at next to zero. The best ability is availability, and Ford does not have it, especially when we need him the most. Even when on the field, Ford has been ineffective since his beginning stretch with the 49ers last season. His contract is bloated and brutal, when considering the amount of talent that the 49ers could lose next season - with names like:

Trent Williams
Richard Sherman
Jaquiski Tartt
Nick Mullens
Emmanuel Moseley
K’Waun Williams

That’s just the start. His contract is far too much for a part-time player.

Full Injury Updates:

Mark Nzeocha, the special teams standout, has been placed on short-term IR with a quad injury.
Emmanuel Moseley has a concussion, joining Ahkello Witherspoon who had one last week. Moseley enters protocol.
Jimmy Garoppolo is day-to-day with a high ankle sprain. Chances are, Garoppolo does not play with the Eagles being a weak opponent - but if he’s healthy, he will go.
George Kittle is day-to-day officially with an MCL sprain but with much more in reality. He will play on Sunday barring a setback.
Raheem Mostert is also day-to-day, also with an MCL sprain and is set to play Week 4 as well.
Ahkello Witherspoon who had a concussion last week, has a hamstring injury this week and is day-to-day as well.
Jerick McKinnon is day-to-day with a rib injury.
K’Waun Williams is day-to-day with a hip injury, he is receiving testing to determine the severity. Let’s hope for the best, Williams has been banged up all offseason.
Finally, Deebo Samuel is expected to make his triumphant return on Sunday. Deebo and Aiyuk on the field on the same time will be fun.

Around The NFL

Earl Thomas, the troubled former Seahawks safety, is expected to sign with the Houston Texans. He is scheduled to workout and is not expected to leave Houston at all - and brings a much needed reinforcement to that leaky defense. The Texans now have a talented safety duo with Thomas and former 49ers safety Eric Reid’s brother, Justin Reid.
Aldon Smith, another former 49ers defensive standout, is currently the NFL leader in sacks with 4. He has been the defensive MVP of the season for Dallas, and is amazingly both in the running for DPOY and CBPOY - despite missing 5 years between games. Smith was a HOF-level talent plagued by off-field issues - and seems to have cleaned up his act with no incidents in more than 2 years now. Good for him. Bad for the rest of the NFL. Not only sacks, Smith has racked up 20 tackles, 6 QB hits, 6 pressures, and a number of hurries while also being top 20 in the NFL in tackles for loss. Truly a shocking comeback - but to 49ers fans, not exactly unexpected. We know he had this type of talent.
Isaiah Simmons, the high 1st round draft choice for the Cardinals out of Clemson, is being moved to safety. Simmons has struggled at LB to start his NFL career, and despite being supremely gifted with athleticism, has not flashed. He is being moved to his natural position of safety, which he played in college - and the Cardinals deemed this move necessary with injuries there as well.
Nick Foles has been announced as the starter for the Bears. Trubisky’s time in Chicago may be coming to a close, and with it, Ryan Pace’s time as well. Their shifty RB, Tarik Cohen, who was just inked to a long-term extension - tore his ACL and is out for the season.
The Jaguars added kicker Steven Hauschka, the former Seattle kicker.
Jurrell Casey, 5 time Pro Bowler, is done for the season with a torn bicep. The Broncos DL takes another huge hit. JoJo Natson, their return specialist, is also out for the season with, you guessed it, a torn ACL.
More injury news: Seattle’s talented RB Chris Carson avoided a major injury scare. After being tackled dirty by Cowboys DL Trysten Hill, who alligator-rolled his knee, Carson was diagnosed with a grade 1 knee sprain and is expected to miss a week at least.

Long Snapper Issues:

As most noticed, LS Kyle Nelson was abysmal yesterday, messing up a whopping 5 snaps and thankfully not costing us the game. Kyle Shanahan has made it clear they will bring in other long snappers, and depending on how they look, Nelson’s time with the 49ers may be over. The longest tenured 49er left, Nelson has been a consistent player albeit troubled with a PED suspension. He seemed to be having mental issues, with Robbie Gould and others trying to console him, and also could be having a case of the yips. We don’t know for certain, but Shanahan has made it clear they will be looking to replace him.

A Secondary Solution:

With the secondary absolutely decimated - the only non-injured corners on the roster are Jason Verrett (irony level: 100) and Dontae Johnson. Verrett filled in admirably but we need to see more from him before making a call to trust him - and Dontae Johnson, there are no words needed.

With that being said, Robert Saleh needs to take advantage of his superior safety depth. Tarvarius Moore should be starting at FS, as Jimmie Ward moves to the outside corner position. For one thing, Ward has been referred to as a “weapon” rather than a simple safety. The 49ers are trying to shift to more man-to-man looks, and Ward is likely the best man-cover corner on the team, with healthy Verrett as an exception. Moreover, having Sherman, Ward, Tartt, and Moore on the field would maximize our DB talent and get the 4 best players on the field in the back-end. You would then also have a great competition at nickel CB, between Jason Verrett and K’Waun Williams.

Saleh’s belief with his DL is to get the 4 best on the field - it’s high time he did the same with his DBs as well.

An uneventful day in the NFL - but not one without bad news, as usual. Thankfully, many 49ers players are nearing a return, and Kittle and Samuel will jump-start this offense. We will start to get an understanding of this team within the next couple of weeks, at least until the gauntlet beginning with the Rams game.

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