Solomon Thomas has MCL sprain, according to Matt Maiocco

The San Francisco 49ers injury report following Week 8 is pretty ridiculous at this point. We already know that free safety Jimmie Ward has a fractured forearm, and left tackle Joe Staley is getting an x-ray on his eye to check if he fractured his orbital bone. Now we learn that defensive tackle Solomon Thomas will likely miss some time. NBC Sports Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco reported on Sunday that Thomas might have an MCL sprain.

Thomas and the 49ers return to the Bay Area Sunday evening, and Thomas will get an MRI on his knee Monday morning. That will determine the extent of the injury, and provide some kind of timeline to the 49ers.

If Thomas sprained his MCL, he could be looking at anywhere from a two-to-six week absence. An MCL sprain is simply another version of an MCL tear — it’s simply a partial tear compared to a full tear of the ligament. Either way, Thomas would miss at least a little bit of time with the injury.

Any kind of absence would leave the 49ers that much more limited along the line. Arik Armstead is done for the year, and Aaron Lynch is week-to-week with a calf injury. Losing Thomas means we’ll see plenty more of Leger Douzable, Tony McDaniel, and Datone Jones. And with D.J. Jones dealing with some kind of knee injury as well, it’s a good bet the 49ers sign at least one defensive lineman this week.