The San Francisco 49ers dodged some significant injury bullets Sunday. Head coach Kyle Shanahan said on Monday that Joe Staley is questionable this week with his knee injury, while Dante Pettis is out and will be week-to-week after that. It’s not ideal, but it could have been a lot worse.
Shanahan offered some additional updates on the injury report. Right tackle Mike McGlinchey, center Weston Richburg, and wide receiver Marquise Goodwin are also listed as questionable. Richard Sherman is probably out this week, but they’ll see how he responds to treatment. One bit of good news is that the team expects Jaquiski Tartt back from his shoulder injury.
The 49ers might get Adrian Colbert back in the starting lineup, but Shanahan wants to wait and see what the week shows. Colbert was healthy enough to play special teams last week, but Shanahan said he did not get enough defensive practice reps due to his hip injury, and so they went with D.J. Reed. Shanahan seemed to suggest Reed could still stake a claim to the job, but he said Colbert could get back into that role this week.
The return of Tartt is an interesting one just given how well Antone Exum played in Week 4. He had some mistakes, but he opened the game with a pick-six and had some big plays on the ball throughout the game. The 49ers might find themselves with some really solid depth at strong safety after concerns when Tartt went down.
The 49ers have been snake bit with injuries and it seems like every week it’s a new set of situations to deal with. This week it isn’t near as bad as it could have been. Dante Pettis being out for the season would hurt his promising development as a rookie and losing Joe Staley would be something on the level of quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo. Instead, the 49ers will potentially get back Staley this week, and Pettis will get some time to get his knee right.