Joe Staley suffers orbital fracture, not season-ending, per Adam Schefter

The San Francisco 49ers have lost left tackle Joe Staley for an undetermined amount of time due to a fractured orbital bone. Adam Schefter reported the news Sunday evening after the 49ers Week 8 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.

Staley suffered the injury when he took what might have been a dirty hit from Fletcher Cox. After C.J. Beathard threw an interception, Cox went to block Staley on the return. Cox held his hands up afterward potentially think he was flagged, but it did not happen. Staley stared at the Eagles sideline as he walked to the sideline. Staley remained in Philadelphia to get the eye checked, and will likely head back to Santa Clara Monday morning.

The timeline for his return is still to be determined. I did some googling and came across James Harrison suffering a similar injury in 2011. He missed four games with the injury.

It seems safe to say Staley will miss some number of games, which means the 49ers need to assess their tackle situation. Trent Brown missed Sunday’s game with a concussion, and his status for Week 9 is unknown. Garry Gilliam replaced Brown this week, and then suffered a knee injury. Zane Beadles replaced him, but when Staley went down, Beadles moved to left tackle and Erik Magnuson moved to right tackle.

The 49ers will likely add at least one offensive lineman to the roster. The team could promote John Flynn or Darrell Williams, or go to free agency to find some depth.