San Francisco 49ers’ injury nightmare continues with Mike Evans not practicing, plus brutal update for waived rookie pass rusher
The San Francisco 49ers can’t seem to catch a break with all of the unfortunate injury luck occurring at training camp despite taking extra measures to prevent injuries this offseason.
The San Francisco 49ers can’t seem to catch a break when it comes to injury after injury hitting this entire organization during the first few days of training camp.
Not only are the 49ers still without head coach Kyle Shanahan in a full capacity, who’s still working his way back through the concussion protocol after a scary car crash, the team also has five players on the PUP or reserve/injured list right now. Wide receiver Ricky Pearsall became the recent player to join the list after electing to undergo season-ending surgery to deal with his PCL injury.
Just when it looked like things couldn’t get even worse, they somehow managed to for the 49ers on Monday involving a top offensive weapon and one of the team’s undrafted rookies that was already waived due to injury.
49ers WR Mike Evans did not participate in practice on Monday
49ers wide receiver Mike Evans is not expected to practice on Monday due to a quad strain adding yet another blow to the team’s wide receiver room. Along with Evans, rookie wide receiver De’Zhaun Stribling (hamstring) and running back Kaelon Black (adductor) are not expected to practice on Monday due to injuries.
There is no word on how long Evans, or the other two offensive weapons, will continue to be sidelined, but it is a troubling trend at wide receiver. Earlier in camp, Christian Kirk also missed time due to a calf injury that he continues to deal with.
Last week, the 49ers brought back former franchise star Deebo Samuel in the wake of the Pearsall news. The latest news with Evans and Stribling leaves Samuel as the top option at the wide receiver position.
Rookie pass rusher Mikail Kamara diagnosed with torn ACL
Another injury that struck over the weekend happened with rookie pass rusher Mikail Kamara. The undrafted rookie was carted off the field on Saturday with a leg injury. Kamara was later waived with an injury designation and it’s since been confirmed that Kamara suffered a torn ACL. If he passes through waivers, he will revert back to San Francisco’s injured list.
The 49ers had another rookie pass rusher carted off the field earlier in camp in Romello Height, but fortunately he avoided a long-term injury and was dealing with craps. However, Height was held out of Saturday’s practice with an elbow injury.
Injuries have long been a concern in San Francisco, and the team initially hoped they found an answer
Injuries have tormented the San Francisco 49ers for years, to the point many conspiracy theorists linking the team’s injury history to a neighboring electrical substation. Whether it’s that, some ancient curse, or simply bad luck, the 49ers continue to get put through the ringer when it comes to injuries.
Ahead of training camp, general manager John Lynch spoke about the team’s extensive injury history in recent years and the steps the organization took this offseason to finally address it in a proper manner.
“I won’t get into the details. I’ll let [coach Kyle Shanahan], when he’s back and healthy, if he chooses to. But I think you guys will see some different things,” Lynch explained. “We kind of audited everything, because we always do that… A thank you to the Yorks for always giving us every resource that we need. We’ve added personnel to our health and performance staff. We take a hard look at everything, and there’s a lot of different dynamics this year with going to Australia, later in the year with going to Mexico City with the season, but we took a hard look at training camp. . .
“There will be some adjustments, some of them minor, but everything counts. You try to do your absolute best to give ourself the best chance to stay healthy. The reality is, in this league people get hurt, but I’m real proud of the changes that we have made, and we’ll keep doing the things we’ve done well. We’ll see where it ends up.”
So far, the 49ers are in the same boat as years prior. Injuries are ravaging this team throughout the start of training camp, a reality that continues to be frustrating and equally concerning for the entire organization.
