The San Francisco 49ers are hurting at several positions. Injuries have struck the roster hard this season. The defensive backfield has not been immune that that.
Three cornerbacks — Dontae Johnson, Emmanuel Moseley, and K'Waun Williams — have been ruled out for Sunday's game against the Miami Dolphins. Moseley remains in the concussion protocol for the second consecutive week. The defense will be without Williams for at least several weeks as he heads to short-term injured reserve with an ACL sprain. Johnson played through a groin injury for much of Sunday night's game against the Philadelphia Eagles because the 49ers were running low on available players.
Ahkello Witherspoon has been limited this week during practices as he attempts to return from a hamstring injury.
That means the 49ers will have to make a move to at least get in some healthy players who could be called upon if needed.
"Yeah, we're going to have to make a move, at least one," head coach Kyle Shanahan said on Friday. "Again, that is probably our most fluid situation, at DB. But we have until 1 (p.m. PT) tomorrow to do it, so I know we're going to make at least one (move), possibly two. We'll see how some of these guys did after practice, how they're feeling based off the training room, and we'll make our decisions, and we'll go."
That doesn't necessarily mean adding outside help. That is harder to do this season due to COVID-19 restrictions. Players need to pass several COVID-19 tests before they can even work out for an NFL team. That's the main reason Shanahan gave earlier this week as to why the signing of a veteran edge rusher was unlikely — at least this week — following Ziggy Ansah's season-ending injury.
Options at cornerback could include promoting Tim Harris Jr. from the practice squad. He returned from injured reserve this week. The 49ers also have Jamar Taylor and Brian Allen on the practice squad. Taylor was promoted from the practice squad for the game against the Eagles.