On Wednesday, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan was on KNBR and discussed rookie linebacker Reuben Foster's shoulder injury and his recovery from surgery.
"The worst-case scenario is the shoulder doesn't heal correctly and you've got to do it again," Shanahan said. "When you have to do it again, you have to get another surgery and it would be tough to play this year, and you end up having him the next year."
The media went with it. Shanahan was pointing out what the possible worst-case scenario might be – that Foster might miss his rookie season. Of course, that was only the worst-case scenario and not what Shanahan and the 49ers' medical staff necessarily believed would happen. They felt comfortable with the recovery and have said nothing since selecting Foster that would dispute that.
The media, on the other hand, has been reporting on Shanahan's statement out of context with headlines like "Shanahan says rookie Reuben Foster could miss season," which really isn't what Shanahan's point was. However, it makes for great click-bait.
49ers general manager John Lynch joined "Mike & Mike" on ESPN Radio this morning to clarify the situation. He believes that Shanahan's statement was misrepresented, which to a large extent, it has been.
"I can tell you that anytime you have a player with a shoulder injury, there's some concern and you definitely vet it," Lynch said. "And we've got a great medical staff out here. A lot of doctors at a school about 15 minutes north that I'm real proud to be associated with at Stanford. They never deviated in their analysis of his shoulder and that was that he had a torn rotator cuff. He fixed it. They liked the way that the recovery was happening.
"Every time one of these stories would pop up, I'd go back and say, 'Are you sure?' What I loved is that they never flinched. They never blinked. And I kept getting the same report.
"That's how we felt about it. Kyle made some comments yesterday -- Kyle Shanahan -- that I think were misrepresented in terms of Kyle said, 'Look, in the worst case scenario, and there's a risk with any injury, that it doesn't work and you have to go out and fix it.' Well, we got him in the 31st pick. We felt like we were insulated a little bit because, believe me, I would have taken him at number three if Solomon hadn't been there and had we just had a pick just right behind him. I think he's that good of a football player. I think he's a game-changing football player. You guys have been around him.
"I think he's also a guy who can lift a building with that personality. This guy loves playing football. He lights up when he talks about it. He's got an infectious personality. We're going to put a great plan around him, both on and off the field.
"As for the shoulder concerns, as I indicated, our doctors feel real good about it. So we feel like we got a player who was in our -- our top three players were Myles Garrett, Solomon Thomas, and Reuben Foster. And we got two of them and we're thrilled for that."