Despite early victories, injuries continue to take toll on 49ers

Posted By on September 20, 2021

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo (10) looks to pass during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 19, 2021, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

San Francisco improved to 2-0 on the season yesterday with a 17-11 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles, however it came with a price. For the second week in a row, injuries dominate the discussion following 49ers win.


One week after losing cornerback Jason Verrett and running back Raheem Mostert for the season, the 49ers lost defensive tackle Kevin Givens and running back JaMycal Hasty due to high ankle sprains. Head coach Kyle Shanahan did not put a time table on the return of either player stating only that they will be out for a while.


The injury to Hasty creates a concern at running back as the 49ers are now without a single healthy player at the position. In addition to the losses of Mostert and Hasty, rookies Elijah Mitchell and Trey Sermon are also injured. Mitchell suffered a shoulder injury on Sunday and is listed as day to day while Sermon has been placed in the NFL concussion protocol after vicious hit in the fourth quarter on his lone carry of the day.


Due to the injuries, San Francisco will be taking a look at several free agents to fill out the roster. Those being brought in for visits are Lamar Miller, Duke Johnson and T.J. Yeldon.


It would seem that Johnson would make the most sense of this group. As a member of the Houston Texans last season, he carried the ball 77 times for 235 yards. Given the 49ers penchant for signing players coming off knee injuries, don’t count out Miller. He has played in only one game since tearing the ACL during the 2019 preseason, that coming in November of last season with the Chicago Bears.


In other injury-related news, Javon Kinlaw (knee) and Josh Norman (ankle) are listed as day to day and Arik Armstead (adductor) will likely to through the same process as last week.


Shanahan also noted that he hopes to get Emmanuel Moseley back this week. Moseley has been dealing with a knee injury for the last two weeks.

This article has 21 Comments

  1. Injuries have been piling up around the league. The 9ers didn’t lose anybody for the season yesterday. Small victory. Playing RB for this team is like being the Drummer in Spinal Tap.

  2. When is the players assoc. going to grow a set and negotiate the end of artificial turf. I believe it can even be done at indoor stadiums. I believe injuries would fall by 50% if every game was played on grass. As to concussions like Sermon’ yesterday, I think both players (the one who took the cheap shot with his forearm as well as the player who knocked him out with the helmet to helmet contact) should be suspended as long as it takes Sermon to come back.

    1. I couldn’t agree more with you, especially the idea of benching the offender for as long as the victim can’t play.

    2. Maybe not exactly eye for an eye, but I really like this idea. It might make more sense to say if a guy is out X weeks, then the player responsible needs to be out Y weeks. Have a chart or something. The only issue I see is if the offender is a star player and the the victim is a backup, and the two teams are rivals, it might get messy if the player is held out longer than what is necessary to recover. Still, I like the premise of the idea. One thing is for certain though, football has so many rules.. there are like dozens of rules at play on every single movement by any specific player on the field. Wish there were a way to simplify it, but by nature it’s a bit of a flawed game that way.

  3. Uh-oh. I just saw that the Eagles placed Ertz on the Covid list. Hopefully, this doesn’t impact the 49ers.

  4. Green Bay’s defense is not looking good and their first game may not have been a fluke. I don’t think the Niners are going to have much trouble with Green Bay next week.

  5. J.H.

    Any way to get a transcript of today’s (Monday) Shanahan presser? It’s not on the 49ers youtube channel so I’m assuming it was a conference call.

  6. When does Maurice Hurst return? Or does he return?

    TJ Yeldon doesn’t fit this offense. The only one of those 3 RBs that makes sense is Duke Johnson.

    1. 1.6 Parrot, you make the good points. I am wondering if the Trenton Cannon is able to fill the void temporarily. Duke Johnson can catch many passes from backfield. You are very smart man. Did you attend my “husbands” University.

      1. Trenton Cannon might be too small to pound it out. 5’11, 185.

        Btw, what part of the world are you from, Fooltiqua?

    4. Too bad Cassie and Seb weren’t still around to discuss throw insults at each other over the merits of an XFL alum.

  8. There may be other teams having all their running backs go down at the same time, but the Seahawks for week seventeen last year, and the Ravens/49ers at the start of this year. Is it random bad luck, or a new trend?

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