San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch spoke with NBC Sports Bay Area this week and provided a couple of injury updates. Yes, injuries have dramatically changed the roster that Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan built. The defense could be getting one player back soon, though. At least, Lynch is hopeful that will be the case.
Greg Papa asked Lynch about the status of two defensive players — cornerback Richard Sherman and pass rusher Dee Ford.
"With Sherm, we are (hopeful)," Lynch said in an interview that was previewed Wednesday on KNBR, "and I'm keeping my fingers crossed because this has been a stubborn one coming back from. And I think he had a setback at some point.
"They did another procedure, some sort of injection, where they put some sort of fluid in there that they told us, 'Hey, doing this is going to take some time. You've got to allow it to take root and then build him back up.'
"And so, I think Sherm, we're feeling good."
The bad news is that Lynch was less optimistic about the potential return of his veteran pass rusher. Ford has missed 12 regular-season games since San Francisco traded for him last offseason — the same number of games in which he's appeared.
A back injury after Week 1 has sidelined Ford, and the defensive end hasn't made much progress since.
"Dee is still very much up in the air," Lynch said. "When you're dealing with your back and things, the center of your body, there's just a lot of things that are unpredictable. And so, Dee's working hard, trying to find his way back. Whether that happens or not? Hopeful? I don't know. But we're still leaving that door open and working with him, doing everything possible to try to get him back out (on the field).
"And Dee's working hard on it. It hasn't been successful thus far, but hopefully, that changes here in the near future."