The San Francisco 49ers made a trio of roster moves Tuesday evening, placing wide receiver Pierre Garçon on season-ending injured reserve and signing safety Tyree Robinson off the Dallas Cowboys practice squad as well as tight end Marcus Lewis.
The IR designation for Garçon was discussed yesterday in Kyle Shanahan’s press conference. Garçon was dealing with a painful knee injury and will need to have surgery to get it cleaned up. Returning to the 49ers in 2019 will be a definite question mark given Garçon’s age and the youth stockpiled at the wide receiver groups. This is the second time in as many years Garçon has been put on season-ending IR.
Tyree Robinson comes from the Cowboys practice squad and offers some safety depth. Here’s what the 49ers had to say about Robinson:
Robinson (6-2, 202) originally signed with the Cowboys as an undrafted rookie free agent on May 11, 2018 out of the University of Oregon. He was active in each of the first two games of the season and was waived by Dallas on September 18. Robinson was signed to the Cowboys practice squad on September 20.
A 24-year-old native of San Diego, CA, Robinson appeared in 52 games (23 starts) in five years (2013-17) with the Ducks where he registered 201 tackles, 23 passes defensed, six interceptions, four fumble recoveries and two sacks. As a senior in 2017, he started 12 games and finished with 48 tackles, five passes defensed and two fumble recoveries.
The Robinson signing is for another body in the backfield while the team waits to figure out the status of Jaquiski Tartt after r he suffered a stinger on Sunday against the Denver Broncos. Shanahan says they’ll check Tartt’s injury on Wednesday.
While Robinson was signed to the active roster, Marcus Lewis was signed to the 49ers practice squad. Here’s what the 49ers have to say about the tight end:
Lucas (6-4, 250) was originally signed by the Carolina Panthers as an undrafted free agent on May 16, 2014. Throughout his career, he has spent time on the practice squads with the Panthers (2014-15 & 2016), Miami Dolphins (2015), Chicago Bears (2015), Seattle Seahawks (2016), Indianapolis Colts (2017) and Oakland Raiders (2017). In 2018, he signed with the Detroit Lions on August 31 and was waived by the team on September 2. Lucas was signed to the Seattle Seahawks practice squad the following day and was later waived by Seattle on October 9.
A 26-year-old native of Liberty, MO, Lucas attended the University of Missouri where he appeared in 49 games (23 starts) and finished with 130 receptions for 1,638 yards and 11 touchdowns.
Given the background, Lewis could be a body to kick the tires on and get a look at possibly for 2019, but we’ll see how serious this signing is as the days go by. The 49ers don’t have as near a need at tight end as they do at safety, where they are playing backups of backups, but we’ll see what happens.