Why the 49ers week four bye is a blessing in disguise

Bye weeks in the early going of the regular season is rarely received as a good thing for football teams. However, considering the stockpile of injuries to key players of the 49ers it comes at a perfect time.

Having your bye week so early in the season is never ideal for any football team. When the schedule was released for the San Francisco 49ers, their bye was revealed at week four of the season. That had to have been a punch in the gut for the team because the season then becomes longer for these players.

However, what looked like an unfortunate circumstance for the 49ers is now a blessing in disguise. The injuries that have been sustained on this team occurred to their key players like Ahkello Witherspoon, Joe Staley, Dee Ford and many more. Thanks to the bye week, the 49ers have one less game they have to worry about without their key players

On top of a shortened season, usually teams would love for the bye week to come in the middle or late part of the season because that is when the majority of players are banged up. Well a good amount of the players on the 49ers are already injured. That is pretty much what the bye week is for. It's to get the players a rest period to recharge and come back refreshed.

Instead of having Joe Staley miss out on eight games, he'll likely only have missed six. The same goes for Witherspoon who has been ruled out for four to six weeks. With the bye week now in effect, Dee Ford can try to get a good rest on his injured knee. He is a player that the 49ers cannot afford to miss too much time. Even Nick Bosa can become fully healthy, which he looked fine against the Pittsburgh Steelers this past Sunday.

The 49ers have reeled off three straight games, but with the injuries continuing to pile up the bye week came at a perfect time. Rookie left tackle Justin Skule had a solid debut filling in for Staley. Now he has two weeks to prepare for the Cleveland Browns and get more settled in. The San Francisco 49ers went from unfortunate to fortunate with this week four bye.

When they return to action in week five the journey for a playoff berth will commence. They need to continue to dominate and will only accomplish it with their key players healthy. They'll not come back healthy, they'll come back refreshed. An NFL regular season is such a rigorous journey for these players that any rest they can get will be so beneficial.

A bye week that comes early in the season hardly gets viewed as ideal, but for the San Francisco 49ers in 2019 it is a blessing in disguise.

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