The San Francisco 49ers entered this season with lofty aspirations. For the most part, their hopes have been dashed — and the bottom may be in danger of falling out from under them. On Monday, the 49ers revealed the latest in a spate of injuries that have devastated the team this season.
Sunday’s blowout in Buffalo dropped the Niners’ record to 5-7 on the season. They are two full games back of the NFC West-leading Seahawks with five games remaining in the season, and need to quickly put an end to their current three-game losing streak and start stacking wins if they want to have any hope of making the playoffs. Given the current state of the roster, that is looking more and more unlikely by the day.
Coach Kyle Shanahan said Monday that running backs Christian McCaffrey and Jordan Mason are both headed for injured reserve. So is defensive lineman Kevin Givens. McCaffrey suffered a PCL injury early in the 49ers’ blowout loss to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday night. His recovery is expected to last at least six weeks, according to Shanahan. Mason suffered a high ankle sprain in the same game. He’ll miss at least four games. And Givens tore his pectoral muscle, which is a season-ending ailment.
Already this season, the Niners have lost each of Brandon Aiyuk, Javon Hargrave, Elijah Mitchell, Jon Feliciano and Talanoa Hufanga (who is apparently on the verge of returning) to injured reserve, and they have played the entire season to date without Dre Greenlaw, who tore his Achilles during last year’s Super Bowl loss to the Chiefs. McCaffrey also missed the first half of the season while dealing with injuries to both of his Achilles tendons.
In recent weeks, Trent Williams and Nick Bosa have been sitting out, and they were joined on Sunday by Deommodore Lenoir, Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles, Jordan Elliott and Aaron Banks. The 49ers have also seen Brock Purdy, George Kittle, Deebo Samuel, Jauan Jennings, Ricky Pearsall and Jake Moody (among several others) miss games due to various injuries.
And even beyond football, the 49ers have experienced unspeakable tragedy at times this season. Wide receiver Ricky Pearsall was shot in the chest just before the start of his rookie year. Star cornerback Charvarius Ward was out for several games following the tragic death of his daughter. And Williams and his wife announced on Monday that they had lost one of their expected twin babies during the pregnancy, and that the other was stillborn in late November.
It’s almost unfathomable for one team to have to deal with all of that during one season, and it would be understandable if those events alone resulted in the team being thrown off course. Add the outrageous rash of injuries on top of everything else they’ve had to deal with, and it’s no wonder that this season’s 49ers do not look all that much like the 49ers team we’ve gotten used to seeing in recent years.
