Matt Maiocco of CSN Bay Area joined Joe, Lo & Dibs on 95.7 The Game this morning to talk about the San Francisco 49ers' loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday and the highly likely loss of ILB NaVorro Bowman to an Achilles injury. Bowman went down with the non-contact injury in the third quarter while rushing the line of scrimmage.
"The MRI will be performed today," Maiocco said. "But, as I saw NaVorro as he left the locker room – this was probably an hour and a half after the game – I went up and talked to him and he said that. He said that 'I'll know a little but more after the MRI.' But he had the orthopedic boot and I did ask him, 'Is it your Achilles?' And he looked at me and he said 'Yeah, it is.'
"As you would expect, he was pretty downcast in talking to people afterward. Certainly the expectation for the – I should say the fear is that it's a season ending injury."
Maiocco was asked how big a loss this is for the 49ers. "I don't think the 49ers, with NaVorro Bowman or without NaVorro Bowman are going to win a lot of football games this year," Maiocco answered. "But this is one of those things that's kind of bigger than football. I think NaVorro Bowman has just been an extraordinary presence in that locker room helping the young guys. He's a guy that wants to be here. He wants to be with the 49ers. Last year was difficult for him but he's all 49ers. He's totally bought in to being part of this organization. And so to me, that's bigger. That's bigger than getting 12 tackles a game.
"With a lot of young guys around, there are going to be some really bad weeks to come into work on a Monday this season. There already have been. This might be the worst week for that. And NaVorro Bowman is the kind of guy that says, 'Hey, you're a professional. Whatever happened, put it out of your mind and let's get to work for this upcoming opponent.'"
You can listen to the entire interview on 95.7 The Game.
Official news on the injury will be announced once the results of the MRI are known.
Players react to loss of Bowman
Following the 49ers loss to the Cowboys, a number of San Francisco players shared their thoughts on the loss of their defensive leader, giving the impression that they already knew that it is a serious injury.
"It is tough to see anyone go down," said FS Eric Reid. "We will see what happens and the next guy has to step in and that is what we have to do. That next guy has some big shoes to fill."
"It stinks," said OT Joe Staley. "It's really, really bad. NaVorro is a captain for us, one of our team leaders. We're going to have to have a guy step up. That's a huge role to fill. You can't really replace a guy like NaVorro, but we have to have guys step up and be ready to go."
"Nothing changes, but he is definitely a big key on our defense," said SS Jaquiski Tartt. "Hopefully he will feel better and get back soon. We just have to keep getting better."
