On Friday, San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan answered questions from the media regarding Thursday's 41-39 loss to the Los Angeles Rams, and also provided reporters with a number of significant injury updates. Shanahan mainly answered questions related to a handful of specific plays from Thursday's game -- as well as botched calls by the officials -- but of particular note was the unfortunate injury-related information he provided near the end of the press conference.
When defensive end Tank Carradine left the game on Thursday, he appeared to be in serious pain -- Shanahan confirmed that Carradine suffered a high ankle sprain that may land the 49ers' starter on injured reserve. The 49ers are waiting on the results of Carradine's MRI, and will likely need to make a decision regarding his potential IR-status on Monday.
When asked about safety Eric Reid's return, Shanahan answered that Reid will not play next week against the Arizona Cardinals due to the knee injury he sustained last week against the Seattle Seahawks. Shanahan also commented that Reid is currently behind linebacker Reuben Foster in their respective recovery timetables.
Meanwhile, Shanahan stated that Foster is currently in a "week-to-week" status but is extremely unlikely to play against Arizona. When reporters asked Shanahan when Foster will likely return to practice, he stated that he would "be shocked" if Foster returns to practice during the following week.
Shanahan also informed reporters that fullback Kyle Juszczyk, safety Jaquiski Tartt and linebacker Brock Coyle are each in the concussion protocol, and the 49ers will know more about their respective statuses on Monday.
Losing Juszczyk would require significant changes to the 49ers' offensive game plan, and would certainly take a toll on the team's running game. Prior to his concussion, Tartt was filling a large role in the Niners' secondary due to the absences of Reid and fellow safety Jimmy Ward, and was also used as a third "big-nickel" safety prior to Reid's injury. While Coyle's main role was on special teams, the inside linebacker also saw snaps in short-yardage and goal-line situations in recent weeks. The San Francisco 49ers certainly need all three of these players healthy and back on the field as soon as possible.
To learn more, you can listen to the audio recording of Shanahan's press conference, or you can read the entire transcript, provided by the 49ers' PR department.
- Chris Wilson
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Written by:You may have seen Chris Wilson's work on NFL game theory, statistical analysis, and film breakdowns at Minute Media, FanSided, Niner Noise, Insidethe49, LockedonSports, ClutchPoints, and others. Follow Chris on Twitter @cgawilson.
