With all of the injuries the San Francisco 49ers have had this season, it’s hard to imagine things could be worse.
But, to quote Han Solo in “Star Wars: A New Hope:” “It’s worse.”
The Niners spent the majority of the season without running back Christian McCaffrey, who recently began his 2024 season, but the 2023 NFL Offensive Player of the Year likely won’t be back this season after a knee injury (PCL) Sunday night in the team’s loss at Buffalo.
And on top of that, McCaffrey’s back-up, Jordan Mason, was also injured in the game, and both will be placed on the IR list.
Not a banner year for the 49ers, who haven’t had left tackle Trent Williams and defensive end Nick Bosa for the last two weeks due to injuries; lost wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk a few weeks ago to a knee injury; and haven’t had linebacker Dre Greenlaw at all this year – Greenlaw was injured in the Super Bowl.
San Francisco is 5-7, and hosts Chicago on Sunday.
Elsewhere around the league, in other injury news:
- New Orleans Saints tight end Taysom Hill tore the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his left knee on Sunday, in a 21-14 home loss to the L.A. Rams, interim coach Darren Rizzi said today. Hill, listed as a tight end but who plays so many roles, had 23 catches for 187 yards; ran for 278 yards and six touchdowns on 39 carries; had two completions playing quarterback and also returned some kicks for the Saints.
- The most high-profile injury on Sunday: Jacksonville quarterback Trevor Lawrence, because of the way it happened. Lawrence was laid out, literally, but Houston linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair when sliding during the game in Jacksonville on Sunday. His head hit the turf as Al-Shaair appeared to not only hit him while he was sliding, but also delivered a forearm to the head / neck area. Lawrence, just recently returned to the lineup after a shoulder injury, was carted off – he rode on the cart in a seated position – and the official word during the game was that he was concussed, and obviously didn’t return. The team has confirmed he’s in the league’s concussion protocol. Coach Doug Pederson said after the game that he’d talked to Lawrence and he’d be fine. The Jags are 2-10 on the season and have been mathematically eliminated from the playoffs.
- New York Giants defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence suffered an elbow injury on Thanksgiving in the team’s loss to the Dallas Cowboys, and has also been placed on IR. Lawrence has nine sacks on what has been a very subpar Giants team (2-10). Also placed on IR by the Giants: tight end Theo Johnson, who finished with 331 yards and a touchdown on 29 catches.
