Javon Kinlaw has seen a surge in his workload due to injuries impacting the San Francisco 49ers' defensive line. The fourth-year defensive tackle, often hampered by injuries and inconsistent production, didn't have his fifth-year option exercised, likely making him a free agent in the upcoming offseason.
This could be an opportunity for Kinlaw to showcase his capabilities when healthy. Talking to the 49ers, they certainly appear content with his efforts this season. Kinlaw has accumulated 2.5 sacks, all within the last two games, surpassing his 1.5 sack total from his first three seasons.
His increased role is set to continue on Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals, as the 49ers will be without their two starting interior defensive linemen, Javon Hargrave and Arik Armstead. Both have been ruled out for the Week 15 matchup.
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On Friday, head coach Kyle Shanahan acknowledged the difficulty in developing young players during the season, especially if they can't participate in offseason activities or practices, a challenge Kinlaw faced in previous years.
"You have to do it [with] 22 people out there," Shanahan explained. "You can't just go practice your shot in the gym. You can't just do one-on-ones in the offseason or anything. You have to really play the game. And we don't really get to in the offseason with our offseason rules and stuff, and that's really tough on O-linemen and D-linemen."
Kinlaw has appeared in 13 games this season. During the previous two seasons, he appeared in 10 total games, missing time due to complications with his knee.
"When you've been hurt every year that you come in, and you have to be protected throughout practice the whole week, then you're only really playing on game day," Shanahan said. "And then you get sore, and you miss all that throughout the week.
"So that's kind of been Javon's story since his rookie year. And this year, that hasn't come up once, and it didn't come up in the offseason. And he stayed here the whole season, so he, just physically, he was in as good a football shape he could be in, which he's done a couple of offseasons. But then, he didn't have any setbacks once we started practicing.
"So he strung together all these practices, and when you're talented, and you work hard, you only get better when you practice."
Shanahan believes Kinlaw is proving to the NFL that he can contribute to a defense. Whether that contribution will continue with the 49ers or elsewhere remains uncertain.
"Everyone around the league knows the talent he was coming out of college," Shanahan said. "He was starting to show that his rookie year, but then, ever since that Dallas game (Week 15, 2020), he just hasn't been right with his knee. And so it becomes a question of not how good can he get, but whether he can even play or not.
"And what he did this whole season was as big of a commitment as anyone as I've ever been around. You're still so nervous for the guy because they can't control their injuries, but for him to be able to do this and play, now the tape looks [like] what people anticipated, and the whole league has respect, and he's only going to get better."