San Francisco 49ers left tackle Joe Staley exited Sunday's game after sustaining a gash beneath his right eye. The injury occurred following an interception by Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Jalen Mills when defensive lineman Fletcher Cox blocked Staley during the return.
Staley suffered an orbital fracture, reports Adam Schefter of ESPN. The good news is he will not require surgery. The bad news is the 49ers will be without their veteran tackle while he heals.
49ers OT Joe Staley fractured his orbital bone, no stitches by eye. As tough as injury is, not a season ender. Staley expects to play again.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 30, 2017
Staley was taken to a local hospital for X-rays following the injury and remained there for more tests as the team returned home following the 33-10 road loss. He is expected to stay overnight.
"Joe's our leader," said guard Brandon Fusco via The Mercury News. "He's our leader in the room. He's done many good things for years. And for him to go down like that …"
Head coach Kyle Shanahan discusses the injury following the game but did not yet have all of the information available.
"I know he needed stitches," Shanahan said. "I think they took him to look at his orbital. It was really swollen up and you could see at halftime that he had no chance to get back in and I know he was trying to do everything he could but he was definitely way too hurt."
2017 San Francisco 49ers season recap pic.twitter.com/kOm35iBJeS
— Bay Area Sports Guy (@BASportsGuy) October 29, 2017
Guard Zane Bradley replaced Staley at left tackle after originally replacing Garry Gilliam at right tackle. Gilliam started the game for Trent Brown, who suffered a concussion last week against the Dallas Cowboys.
Other known lasting injuries from the game include a broken forearm suffered by safety Jimmie Ward and an MCL sprain sustained by rookie defensive lineman Solomon Thomas.