Of the many injuries the San Francisco 49ers suffered in Sunday’s game against the San Diego Chargers, one of them is already beginning bring a bit of relief. Per Matt Maiocco, left tackle Joe Staley’s knee injury is looking like it’s not ACL related. Fooch’s update: It also sounds like Dante Pettis avoided an ACL tear, but again, we’ll find out more on Monday.
Now, that doesn’t mean it’s not an ACL tear. As Maiocco noted, Staley still needs an MRI, which will confirm the injury (which happens Monday). It does at least show a good sign and the 49ers aren’t fearing the worst. When Jimmy Garoppolo went down last week against the Kansas City Chiefs, the 49ers leaned the opposite direction and feared it was an ACL injury, the MRI later confirmed it.
Staley went down in the first half favoring his knee and didn’t return to the game. While he walked off of his own accord, it wasn’t a good sign he wasn’t going back to the field. He wasn’t the only one; the 49ers were decimated further by the injury bug Sunday, losing Dante Pettis, Solomon Thomas, and even Mike McGlinchey for a spell.
Staley is one of the most important people on the 49ers offense and a influential voice in the locker room. Losing him would be a severe blow.