The San Francisco 49ers suffered one notable injury their Week 12 loss to the Arizona Cardinals. Tight end Garrett Celek rolled his ankle in the first half, and after the game, Jim Tomsula said it was a high ankle sprain. He had his ankle x-rayed and Tomsula said it otherwise came up clean.
Celek's injury likely will cost him at least a couple games. High ankle sprains are usually more serious than regular ankle sprains. I suspect Celek will miss a couple weeks of practice at least, but we'll see as the injury reports start to arrive later this week.
Celek's injury meant more opportunities for Blake Bell. We'll have the full snap count on Monday, but we saw some notable production from the tight ends after Celek left the game. Bell finished the game with three receptions for 67 yards, including a 48-yard reception. Vance McDonald had six receptions for 71 yards and a touchdown. McDonald now has ten receptions for 136 yards over the last two weeks. He had ten receptions for 149 yards his first two seasons!
Celek has been a prominent member of the 49ers offense this season, for good or bad. McDonald has finally started to emerge lately, and he will be a guy to watch next week against the Chicago Bears. Bell will get more snaps, but McDonald will probably be the primary guy to watch while Celek is out. It's taken McDonald time to get going, but at least something is happening with him!