49ers to place Jimmie Ward on injured reserve, could move Eric Reid back to safety

The San Francisco 49ers will place safety Jimmie Ward and offensive tackle Garry Gilliam on injured reserve, head coach Kyle Shanahan announced on Monday.

Ward sustained a broken forearm in the team’s Week 8 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. Gilliam has a knee injury, and as the primary swing tackle, the 49ers had to play Zane Beadles on Sunday.

The injury to Ward is perhaps the most concerning, though. He’s really found his stride the past couple seasons, and the 49ers just made big moves by switching Eric Reid to linebacker after they switched him to strong safety to start the season.

That was done in an effort to get Ward, Reid and Jaquiski Tartt on the field at once, but now Ward is out for the foreseeable future.

Shanahan said that he’s considering moving Reid back to strong safety and moving Tartt over to free safety, where he played earlier this year when Ward was injured. He also said that he wasn’t sure yet on the move, so who knows at this point?

Reid remains a free agent at the end of the season, and I have to wonder if his window for potentially earning a deal with the 49ers going forward has closed. If they didn’t see room for him at safety before Ward was injured and also will no longer get film of him at weakside linebacker, he could be in a sticky situation.