Fooch’s update: Adrian Colbert’s surgery is complete!
Surgery was a success.. Remember, it was only a finger I’ll be okay #GodIsGod pic.twitter.com/kXfdauihTX
— Adrian Colbert (@AdrianColbert25) November 14, 2017
San Francisco 49ers free safety Adrian Colbert tweeted out for prayers on Tuesday morning as he heads into surgery on his broken thumb. Colbert suffered the injury on Sunday against the New York Giants. He actually injured the thumb on the first series of the game, but played every snap the rest of the way.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan said on Monday that Colbert is questionable for Week 12 against the Seattle Seahawks, and a cast is a possibility.
“I believe there is a chance. We don't believe he'll be out too long. He did it early in the first quarter. He played through the whole game with it. It was extremely tough of him. But, it's something you have to get fixed right away. You don't want to play with it or it could heal wrong, so you we’ve got to get that fixed right away. Possibly could miss the Seattle game, but feel pretty good about him after that.”
The 49ers will have some practice this week, give the players a few days off at the end of the week, and then return to the field early next week. After surgery today, we’ll have a better idea of where things stand for Colbert as it relates to Week 12.
Given the optimism from Shanahan, this sounds like a non-displaced fracture, which shortens the healing time. We’ve seen linebackers play with casts before, but I’m curious what it would mean for a free safety who deals with coverage a bit more.
In the meantime, the 49ers have some time to scout out safeties and consider alternatives. Dexter McCoil can play strong safety, so we very well could see Eric Reid move back to free safety until Colbert can return. Otherwise, the team will have to look at the free agent market considering Leon Hall is the only other player on the team with any kind of safety experience (and it is limited for him).