The San Francisco 49ers should consider themselves fortunate that fullback Kyle Juszczyk will miss only a few weeks. After watching the veteran go down on Sunday against the Denver Broncos while favoring his knee, it was easy to fear the worst.
That's exactly what general manager John Lynch thought when he saw Juszczyk get injured.
However, initial tests showed that Juszczyk's ACL was intact, and an MRI on Monday confirmed it. Instead of a more serious injury, the fullback suffered a hyperextended knee and a bone bruise.
"First of all, he's doing very well, and we all are extremely grateful for that," Lynch said Thursday morning on Bay Area radio station KNBR. "That, to me, to my eye, had ACL written all over it. It just did not look right. And it speaks to Juice's toughness, his physical prowess, all the hard work he's put in, and also his instinct. I think Juice is a really aware player of what's around him. And for him to not be able to see that guy, but to feel someone and pull his leg out of there at the last second, I think that's probably what saved him and why it's more of a short-term thing than what could have been."
The 49ers will head into Lumen Field on Sunday without Juszczyk, a key piece of head coach Kyle Shanahan's offense for years. Lynch acknowledged that replacing the veteran fullback will be difficult during this stretch of games leading up to the bye week.
"Almost every time we go to him, he comes through, and he comes through in a big way," Lynch said. "But there's so much nuance to his game, the way we motion him—that's hard to do, the change of direction, and then being able to see things on the move. Things get muddy in there, and you tell halfbacks oftentimes, 'Let the fullback be your eyes.'"
Lynch praised Juszczyk as one of the best "processors" on the field, able to quickly identify what the defense is doing. That ability has made him extremely impactful to the offense's success.
"I think that's why those backs, why our coaches have so much trust in him," Lynch added. "And then, he's extremely talented. Inevitably, when I'm around football, and some of the best minds, and people will talk about our system, and what makes it hard, Juice's name always comes up because of the things we're able to do.
"It's called 21 personnel, typically, when Juice is in there. That's one tight end, two backs, two receivers. But we can become anything out of that. Juice can split out, play a receiver. He can do all that motion. So I think it's a big loss."
Lynch noted that tight end Jake Tonges would typically step into Juszczyk's role if needed. However, Tonges is out for the season with an MCL injury.
"We don't have Jake, and so now it's up to guys like [TEs] Brayden Willis and Luke Farrell, who's been playing a lot, along with [TE George] Kittle," Lynch said. "We'll find a way, but Juice is a significant loss, to say the least."
More info on: Luke Farrell, Kyle Juszczyk, George Kittle, Jake Tonges, Brayden Willis
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