49ers snap count vs. Cardinals, Week 9: Injuries shake things up on both sides of the ball

The San Francisco 49ers revolving door of injured players continues to intensify and shake up the offensive and defensive lineups. The snap count reflects it once again. You can check out the full snap count at the bottom of the page, or check out the gamebook PDF.

The 49ers saw five players leave the game and eventually get ruled out with an injury. They included safety Jaquiski Tartt (arm), fullback Kyle Juszczyk (neck), wide receiver Trent Taylor (ribs), linebacker Elijah Lee (knee), and tight end Cole Hikutini (knee). Tartt is expected to go on injured reserve, and we’ll learn more about the rest of the players at Kyle Shanahan’s 4 p.m. PT press conference today.

Tartt’s departure resulted in Adrian Colbert taking over at free safety. He will continue in that role, with Eric Reid remaining at strong safety. For the time being, Dexter McCoil, claimed off waivers on October 9, will be the team’s third safety. I would imagine the team will sign another defensive back this week.

Taylor’s injury led to more work for Kendrick Bourne. The team has since signed Louis Murphy, which suggests Taylor’s injury might be more of a problem. The 49ers also had a ton of drops, so they could just be looking for some new bodies to shake things up. Aldrick Robinson got the start in place of Pierre Garçon this week, and likely will continue to get work the rest of the way if he stays healthy.

And really, that’s what it is all coming down to at this point. The 49ers still have seven games left to play, and more injuries are bound to happen. They lead the league with a soon to be 16 players currently on IR. I’d bet decent money they add at least a couple more to the list. And even if they don’t lose players for the year, they will deal with bumps and bruises that lead to some deactivations. It’s going to be a busy couple of months.