49ers Lose Richburg for the Year; Sherman and Ford to Miss Time
San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan dropped a bombshell of injuries to key players on the team.
Center Weston Richburg suffered a torn patella tendon in the win against the Saints and will be out for the remainder of the year. A long journey of rehabbing is ahead for Richburg, which is just unfortunate considering the elite season he has had. Richburg has arguably been the best offensive lineman for the 49ers this season considering he handles the protection calls.
To go along with Richburg in terms of injuries, Dee Ford re-aggravated his hamstring injury and is expected to miss at least a few weeks. Ford most likely will not be seen until the playoffs considering he worsened his hamstring. Ford isn't the only player with a hamstring issue. Richard Sherman joins him in that category as he will miss some time as well.
The 49ers have played without Ford before, so it should not be viewed as a significant loss at this point. Getting him right for the playoffs is all that matters now. As for Sherman, his impact as an emotional leader for the defense will be lost more than his coverage. Luckily his shutdown defense won't be as dramatically lost. The 49ers cornerbacks have become one of the best groups in the league, so they should be okay on that end.
Still, losing Richburg will hurt. Ben Garland is expected to fill in for him just like he did against the Saints. Garland performed well in Richburg's stead, so the 49ers could indeed have another solid depth player to make things alright for them.
Aside from calling the 2019 season dominant for the San Francisco 49ers, calling it an injury filled one should follow right after. It never fails that the 49ers have a key player suffer an injury. It just never ending. The plethora of injuries can be tracked as far as Shanahan's first season as head coach of the 49ers. Whether it is a training staff issue or just outright bad luck. There just is no way of shaking the domino effect of injuries.
Other injury notes from Sunday: K'Waun Williams is under concussion protocol and D.J. Jones has a sprained ankle.
The next updates for these injured players will be Wednesday where the 49ers will hope to hear some good news. Missing these players will be felt, but the 49ers have done an excellent job making up for the losses of their injured players.
