With a victory well out of reach for the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, head coach Kyle Shanahan decided to keep star rookie linebacker Reuben Foster out of the game. Foster went to the locker room with a rib injury that he suffered during a tackle of Ezekiel Elliott in the second half of the game. He was cleared by the 49ers medical staff to return to the game, but by that point, there was no reason to do so. Shanahan just wanted to make certain that Foster would be available for the team's next game – an October 29 matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles.
"I know he wanted to go back in the game and he was cleared to go back in the game late in the fourth but that was me," Shanahan told reporters following the loss. "I held him out just at the end. It was too important. I wanted to make sure we had him next week. The fact that he was good to go there, I'm assuming he'll be good to go next week but you never know. We'll see what happens tomorrow when he wakes up."
Foster, who has not yet played a full game, wasn't sure what his status would be going into the 49ers' next game and told reporters that his fate was up to team doctors.
"I really don't know," Foster answered when asked if he expected to play in Philadelphia. "I've got to just see what the doctors say about it. If they clear me, they clear me. If they don't, they don't."
While Foster will have more tests run on Monday, the injury doesn't seem too serious. Ian Rapoport of NFL Network joined the "Murph & Mac" show on KNBR Monday morning and reported that Foster should be ok.
"I did hear he should be ok," Rapoport said. "A bruise, not break, but I'm sure he'll have some more tests today."
You can listen to the entire interview with Rapoport below.
Other 49ers injuries suffered against the Cowboys include right tackle Trent Brown, who suffered a concussion, right guard Brandon Fusco, who had a biceps injury, and cornerback K'Waun Williams, who suffered a quadriceps contusion.