The San Francisco 49ers announced today that they have placed CB Chris Davis on injured reserve – ending his season. To take his place, the team has signed CB JaCorey Shepherd to the active roster.
Davis left Thursday night's game against the Arizona Cardinals in the third quarter with a knee injury. Yesterday, Adam Caplan of ESPN reported that, per a source, the injury to Davis was "not looking good."
Update:
Davis sustained a torn ACL against the Cardinals, per a source that told Matt Maiocco of CSN Bay Area.
If you watched Thursday's game, you likely remember Davis from one unspectacular highlight. He opened the second half of the game by fumbling the football on the opening kickoff. Arizona recovered at the San Francisco 14-yard line and after three plays, lost a yard and kicked a field goal. However, CB Rashard Robinson ran into the kicker and kept the drive alive. On the very next play, RB David Johnson ran into the end zone for a 4-yard touchdown and gave the Cardinals a 14-7 lead to open the half. It was considered to be a huge momentum boost for Arizona as they went on to beat the 49ers 33-21.
Shepherd was selected in the sixth round of the 2015 NFL Draft as the 191st overall pick by Chip Kelly who was then with the Philadelphia Eagles. He tore his ACL the following August, which forced Shepherd to miss the 2015 season. This past September, he was released by the Eagles, but re-signed to the practice squad later in the month. He was eventually released again on October 7.
49ers Media said this about Shepherd in a press release:
A 23-year-old native of Mesquite, TX, Shepherd attended the University of Kansas, where he appeared in 42 games and finished his college career with 90 tackles, five interceptions and 37 passes defensed. Shepherd left the school ranked fourth all-time in Kansas history with 1,350 kickoff return yards.
Davis, a former player for the San Diego Chargers, signed with the 49ers' practice squad on November 3, 2015. He was promoted to the active roster four days later. Davis appeared in four games this season where he registered two tackles and the first 0.5 sack of his career.
In 2014, Davis was acquired by the Chargers as an undrafted free agent out of Auburn.