Photo courtesy of the San Francisco 49ers
On Sunday night, a familiar face will be leading his Indianapolis Colts defense into Levi's Stadium, looking to prove that the San Francisco 49ers made a mistake by trading him last year. All-Pro defensive tackle DeForest Buckner will play against his former team for the first time since that trade.
General manager John Lynch knows the move to ship Buckner, an outstanding young talent, will be questioned for years to come. The two sides just couldn't find a contract extension figure that worked well for each party.
"We loved everything about DeForest," Lynch said this morning on KNBR's
Murph & Mac show. "... A lot of people, and I'm sure they'll continue to talk whether that was the right move [or] wrong move, but it's the move we made at the time, and we did not make it lightly."
The 49ers received the No. 13 overall pick in last year's draft for Buckner, who signed a four-year, $84 million contract extension with the Colts after the trade.
San Francisco used the selection, after trading down one spot to No. 14 overall, to draft defensive tackle
Javon Kinlaw, who has been hampered by injuries. Lynch knows the potential for an impactful player is there, though. The team just needs to help their young defensive tackle get past the setbacks.
"I think he's exactly the player we thought he would be," Lynch said of Kinlaw. "Unfortunately, that has been tremendously — not just a little bit — hindered by injuries. And it's an injury he had in his first year, and that thing has kind of stuck with him. We're searching for answers."
The 49ers have held Kinlaw out of practices this week, and he has been limited in previous weeks. In fact, Kinlaw hasn't been a full participant all season in a practice leading to a game. In addition, he has been listed as "doubtful" or "questionable" every week preceding a matchup.
"We still are very resolute that he's going to be a tremendous [asset], and has the makings of a dominant player," Lynch continued, "but you have to be healthy in this league to do that. So, he's struggling through that.
"We're trying to help him find answers, and we're working towards that. It's unfortunate, but that's always a risk in this league."
You can listen to the entire conversation with Lynch below.
The season ended prematurely for offensive tackle Mike McGlinchey and defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw. McGlinchey suffered a torn quad in the San Francisco 49ers' November 7 loss to the Arizona Cardinals. Kinlaw has been dealing with a knee injury that was initially sustained at the end of last season. He recently underwent ACL reconstruction.
"Evaluation of the knee in surgery confirmed suspicions that the ACL had chronic changes that would be best treated with ACL reconstruction," read a joint statement from the 49ers medical staff, Dr. Tim McAdams, and Dr. Neal ElAttrache. "This procedure gives him the best opportunity to make a full recovery and return to
Maybe we won't see much of Trey Lance this season. That was, after all, the San Francisco 49ers' plan upon making the rookie quarterback the No. 3 overall pick in April's draft.
Garoppolo has earned his three highest overall Pro Football Focus grades this season (80.2, 79.6, 82.1) over the last three games. That comes after recording his lowest mark of the season (47.1) against the Indianapolis Colts. The lull from Week 2 to his recent hot streak led to fans advocating for more of Lance.
Over the past three weeks, Garoppolo's 109.8 passer rating leads all NFL quarterbacks. His 69.0 completion percentage ranks No. 4 during that span. His 80.2 adjusted completion percentage (completion percentage of aimed passes thrown on target) is second only to Tom Brady of the
The statistics from the San Francisco 49ers over their past two games are what one might expect given how dominant they've played.
They've outscored their past two opponents—the Los Angeles Rams and Jacksonville Jaguars—by a combined score of 61-20. They ran the ball over 40 times in each game, with a total rushing yardage edge of 327 to 106. They held the ball for 39:03 against the Rams and 38:22 against the Jaguars. But there might be one stat in particular that is most responsible for the turnaround the 49ers are seeing after their 3-5 start.
The stat in question is turnover differential, which is trending in the right direction for the 49ers after being among the worst in the NFL over their first eight games.
The numbers still aren't
No one is really sure exactly when Elijah Mitchell fractured his finger on Monday night against the Los Angeles Rams, but the San Francisco 49ers running back played through it. Then he had surgery to repair the break on Tuesday. He hasn't practiced yet this week, but his potential availability for this weekend's game against the Jacksonville Jaguars hasn't been eliminated.
Mitchell is a tough player. He played through rib injuries earlier this season. He endured a shoulder injury before that. Could Mitchell be ready for Sunday?
"We will see," 49ers general manager John Lynch said on KNBR's Murph & Mac show. "I think the challenge is he had a type of break that [created] some encouragement that he would be able to function with it. But you never know
