The San Francisco 49ers almost beat the Los Angeles Chargers, but win or lose, the game came at a cost. Joe Staley and Dante Pettis left the game with knee injuries and did not return. Marquise Goodwin went down at one point but later returned, Matt Breida went down briefly but returned with a vengeance, and C.J. Beathard had the wind knocked out of him on a scramble.
After the game, head coach Kyle Shanahan could not offer an update on the severity of Pettis or Staley’s injuries. The team returns to Santa Clara tonight, and I imagine both will undergo MRIs on Monday. Shanahan will meet with the media late in the afternoon, at which point we should know what their respective statuses are for Week 5 and beyond.
Shanahan was initially concerned about Beathard after the hit, but it was quickly revealed he had just had the wind knocked out of him. Nick Mullens warmed up, but since the play happened on 3rd down, he never needed to go in the game.
Weston Richburg suffered an injury early in the game, but gutted it out, as did Mike McGlinchey. Both will likely show up on Wednesday’s injury report as the team just tries to get healthy for Week 5. Shanahan said it was possible the team would find some additional bodies this week to fill out practice, but we’ll wait and see. Expect some player workouts on Tuesday in advance of Wednesday’s first practice of the week.
It is interesting to note that the 49ers played D.J. Reed at free safety over Adrian Colbert. While Colbert did get some special teams snaps, the coaching staff thought he missed too much practice time to play in the defensive backfield. Given that Colbert was good to go physically for special teams duties, I imagine he will be back at full-time free safety in Week 5 against Arizona.