49ers exercising caution as DE Dee Ford deals with neck spasms

Defensive end Dee Ford was an unexpected addition to the list of injured San Francisco 49ers players earlier this week, and as of Friday afternoon, his playing status for Sunday's road game against the New York Jets remained uncertain.

Ford appeared on Thursday's injury report as a non-participant in practice due to a neck injury and has since been ruled as questionable for Sunday's game. 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh didn't shed much light on the injury during his Thursday post-practice press conference, saying only that he was "not overly concerned" about Ford's condition. On Friday, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan elaborated more on the injury while speaking to reporters and sounded somewhat less certain when it came to Ford's playing status for Sunday.

"Yesterday it was just neck spasms and stuff, so we rested him," Shanahan said. "I know today he came in with them, so I know he's meeting with guys and trying to make sure it's safe and everything, so that's why it's questionable. We don't have much more than that, but it's Friday, so we're trying to play it slow here and see how it goes the next two days."

Ford, who has battled with injuries off and on throughout much of his NFL career, played 46 snaps in the 49ers' Week 1 loss to the Arizona Cardinals last Sunday and had three total tackles while showing no signs of neck issues. Ford played in 11 regular-season games with the 49ers in 2019, totaling 14 tackles and 6.5 sacks after being acquired in an offseason trade with the Kansas City Chiefs. The 49ers are already short at the defensive end position, with Ronald Blair on the physically unable to perform list as he recovers from a torn ACL that ended his 2019 season.