Jerick McKinnon is yet to play a down for the San Francisco 49ers in the regular season and the wait has gotten longer, if it ever happens. Matt Maiocco reports that Jerick McKinnon has been placed on injured reserve. His season is over.
And so it’s another lost year for the 49ers running back. In 2018, McKinnon’s ACL tear changed the 49ers offensive playbook. Kyle Shanahan had to move to Matt Breida and Alfred Morris while McKinnon went to recover. in 2019 all signs pointed to a successful rehab and recovery and McKinnon was ready to go. Unfortunately he wasn’t able to get going as he re-aggravated the injury and hasn’t been able to go a stretch healthy.
The 49ers made it clear they will have four running backs or less, and Jeff Wilson Jr. will not be No. 4. Per Maiocco, the 49ers have waived Jeff Wilson Jr. If he gets through waivers (if) he has a shot at returning to the practice squad.
1:00 PM has passed and we have no announcement on the final 53-man roster from the 49ers. We can start making some assumptions based on the names, but right now it looks like Wilson will not be the fourth running back and with the designation of McKinnon to IR, it seems likely the 49ers will have three running backs in Tevin Coleman, Matt Breida, and Raheem Mostert. Breida and Coleman will share the brunt of the work while Mostert can spell them and offer special teams value.
For McKinnon this just sucks. He was speculated to be a star in Shanahan’s offense with his dynamic cuts and pass catching abilities, but his knee injury, one suffered a year ago tomorrow from a cut in practice, has derailed any of what could have been.