The San Francisco 49ers season came to a close on Sunday with 19 players on injured reserve. Injuries on both sides of the roster resulted in numerous changes to the starting lineup. Nowhere was that more evident than the offensive line. Sunday saw recent signing Andrew Gardner playing left guard and original left guard Zane Beadles playing center.
On Monday, players wrapped up the season meeting with the media. During his session, wide receiver Torrey Smith had an amusing anecdote about the roster turnover. When discussing Sunday’s game, he had this to say:
"We scored a touchdown, I'm like ‘Good job, Kap,' ‘Good job, Staley' and I looked at one of the lineman and I was like ‘Who the hell is that?' I was like, I had no clue who he was. I know that’s kind of a bad teammate but I really was confused. I had no clue who that was. He did a good job. But that's just the kind of year it was."
Given that Gardner was the only new name on the line Sunday, it’s safe to say that is who he is talking about. The 49ers signed Gardner on December 21, so he would have gotten in ten days with the team before moving into the starting lineup. Given how this season has gone, this quotation is kind of a fitting summation.
This sums up #49ers season well given all the injuries, roster movement. Torrey Smith & Daniel Kilgore didn't recognize a lot of faces. pic.twitter.com/MnALfZLfoh
— Courtney Cronin (@CourtneyRCronin) January 2, 2017