Second 49ers injury report for Week 10, at Jaguars
The San Francisco 49ers finally got the news they've wanted for a long time on Thursday, but it was followed by another blow on the injury front. All-Pro left tackle Trent Williams finally returned to practice on Thursday as the Niners gear up to face the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 10, a game in which […]
The San Francisco 49ers finally got the news they've wanted for a long time on Thursday, but it was followed by another blow on the injury front.
All-Pro left tackle Trent Williams finally returned to practice on Thursday as the Niners gear up to face the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 10, a game in which they will be hoping to end a three-game losing streak.
While the offense is getting back to near enough full strength, there is a fresh concern on the defense after one of the 49ers' most productive pass rushers popped up on the injury report.
49ers injury report
Injury report observations
The 49ers have buried the lede in putting defensive tackle Javon Hargrave at the bottom of the injury report.
His addition on Thursday somewhat takes away from the excitement of Williams being back on the practice field. The nature of his knee injury is not known, but if it keeps him out of the road game with the Jags it will be a huge blow to a defensive front that has struggled to get home on pressures this season.
San Francisco is hoping the arrival of Chase Young to form a devastating edge rush duo with former Ohio State teammate Nick Bosa will kick-start a loaded D-Line and help them produce performances that will ease the pressure on defensive coordinator Steve Wilks, but a Hargrave absence would lower the chances of that happening immediately in Jacksonville.
Hargrave had one of his worst games of the season before the bye in the 49ers' loss to the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 8, but he has been largely excellent since joining San Francisco in a blockbuster free agency deal this past offseason. He is sixth among interior defensive linemen with at least 100 pass rush snaps in pass rush win rate, per Pro Football Focus, and has formed an impressive tandem with fellow defensive tackle Arik Armstead.
Should Hargrave be unable to play, former first-round pick Javon Kinlaw would likely step in. Kinlaw made a promising start to the final season of his Niners contract, but that has since faded in recent games.
For the 49ers to consistently bring down a quarterback in Trevor Lawrence with the second-quickest time to throw (2.41 seconds) in the NFL, they ideally need the Young-Armstead-Hargrave-Bosa D-Line on the field as much as possible.
Williams' return to practice will significantly boost the 49er offense's hopes of returning to the form of the first five weeks of the season, when they averaged 33.4 points per game, though that will be easier said than done against an extremely stout Jacksonville defense.
A much less integral part of the offense, Ray-Ray McCloud, returned to practice after recovering from an illness. That is more significant to the special teams than it is to the attack, as McCloud is the 49ers' return man, but it also means the Niners likely won't have to promote a receiver from the practice squad.
Linebacker Curtis Robinson could be elevated from the practice squad for a third time if Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles, added to the report with an ankle issue, cannot feature in Week 10.
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