San Francisco 49ers: The good, bad, and ugly in preseason loss to Colts
By Kevin Saito
Ugly: Injury Bug Bites Again
As if the 49ers didn’t have enough trouble with injuries knocking out key players.
San Francisco’s opening game saw them lose half a dozen key players, including George Kittle, Malcolm Smith, Solomon Thomas, Matt Breida and Jerick McKinnon.
The game against Indianapolis saw them lose two more – linebacker Reuben Foster, who left the game with a concussion, and cornerback Jimmie Ward, who left with a strained quadricep.
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Most of the other guys should be back and ready for the week one opener against Minnesota. With the last exhibition game coming up, it’s not likely that Shanahan will rush anybody back to throw them on the field for a meaningless game, and risk further injury.
Even if he wanted to play in the last preseason game, it’s not likely that Foster would be cleared through the league’s concussion protocol in time for the upcoming game against the Chargers anyway.
And given his two game suspension for off-the-field issues, Foster is done for the next few weeks. Which, given his concussion, probably isn’t the worst thing ever. It will give him time to get straight before he’s eligible to hit the field again.
The 49ers don’t have a lot of depth at key spots, and they can’t really afford to lose anybody. It’s a good thing that these injuries are mostly minor overall, and that they should be ready to go with a full complement of players – minus Foster, of course – when the season kicks off in just a couple of weeks.