'Real possibility' NaVorro Bowman does not play this season, per Adam Schefter

A day after Vic Fangio's comments about NaVorro Bowman had people thinking the worst, Adam Schefter has piled on! Schefter tweeted that a source told him there is a "real possibility" NaVorro Bowman does not play this season. On Thursday, Vic Fangio was asked if there was a possibility Bowman would not play this season, and he said, "I think that's a possibility. I don't know that that's been decided or been the verdict, but I'm sure it's a possibility."

I have no idea who Schefter spoke with, but my guess would be he saw Fangio's comments, and asked for some confirmation on what Fangio said. It could be something else entirely, but that's my thought for now. Either way, I don't know that this is really surprising news. I don't know that it's news, but much like we've posted about multiple people reporting on Aldon Smith's suspension, or somebody else's injury, it's always interesting to see what other national media are saying about a 49ers story.

The 49ers have until next Tuesday to get Bowman back to practice. If they do not get him back to practice, his season will come to an end before it begins. If they get him back to practice, they would then have a 21-day window to get him back on to the 53-man roster. At the end of 21 days, if he is not on the roster, he would be placed on season-ending injured reserve. I think we see the practice window activated, but that does not mean he will be playing this season. The 49ers can continue his rehab process during that window, and see how his knee holds up over the three weeks.

The 49ers do not have to clear roster space during that 21-day window, so it makes sense to at least activate it and see what happens. They could just decide to shut Bowman down, but with 21 free days, it makes sense to at least see how those three weeks go. Whatever the case, we'll likely find out on Monday or early Tuesday what the next step will be.

If they do decide to shut him down, we could very well see another linebacker addition to the roster. The team currently has Chris Borland, Michael Wilhoite, and Nick Moody as inside linebackers. Shayne Skov is available on the practice squad, and Dan Skuta has some ILB experience. Skuta is dealing with an ankle injury and is not expected to play this weekend. Borland has a shoulder issue but was a full participant in practice on Thursday. For this weekend, Borland, Wilhoite and Moody are their three guys. After that, the depth chart could very well see a change.