The San Francisco 49ers announced that defensive back Tyvis Powell has been activated from the team's practice squad. He will wear jersey number 45.
The move comes after cornerbacks Ahkello Witherspoon (knee) and Greg Mabin (calf) appeared on Friday's injury report as questionable for Sunday's game against the Tennessee Titans.
Powell is in his second NFL season. He was originally signed by the Seattle Seahawks as an undrafted free agent out of Ohio State in 2016. During his rookie season, he appeared in eight games and had three combined tackles before being released on January 4.
Powell spent the 2017 offseason with the Cleveland Browns and the Indianapolis Colts before re-signing with Seattle on September 19 as a member of its practice squad. He was released by the Seahawks on October 24 and signed to the 49ers practice squad on November 1.
The 49ers also officially placed right tackle Trent Brown on injured reserve, which was a move announced by head coach Kyle Shanahan on Friday. Brown has been attempting to recover from a shoulder injury suffered during practice on Thanksgiving Day. The third-year offensive lineman will have labrum surgery and his recovery time is expected to be about five to six months.
"You'd always like to avoid surgery," Shanahan said on Friday. "The risk is, the longer you wait to see if you end up needing it, even though it's not a huge injury, it's a huge recovery. I don't want to say it that way. They're all pretty big injuries, but the shoulder injuries take a while to recover so once we decide we're going to go in that direction, the sooner, the better."
Brown attempted to return from the injury and played during a Week 13 contest against the Chicago Bears. While the injury didn't get worse, it continued to linger.
Brown, who played college football at Florida, was a seventh-round draft pick by the 49ers in 2015. He has played in 31 games with the 49ers and started all but three of those appearances. All three were during his rookie season. Brown has missed three games this season, which includes two of the last three, due to injury.
