The San Francisco 49ers just can not seem to shake the injury bug that has plagued the team up and down its roster on both sides of the football for more than a year.
On Friday, July 30, the Niners announced two new injuries just three days into training camp. The news was reported by Keiana Martin, with the 49ers.com.
Defensive lineman Maurice Hurst missed the team’s third official practice with an ankle injury, though officials dubbed it as “slight.” Tight end MyCole Pruitt is battling a calf injury, which head coach Mike Shanahan said will keep Pruitt out for a significant period of time.
Friday Injuries Latest Chapter in Long List of Niners Health Woes
Getty Images49ers defensive end Nick Bosa tore his ACL in the second game of the 2020 NFL season against the New York Jets.
Neither Hurst or Pruitt are integral pieces to what the Niners plan to do this season.
Hurst, drafted in 2018, was waived by the Las Vegas Raiders after tallying just 14 tackles and 0.5 sacks last season. Pruitt, a six-year veteran, came to San Francisco by way of the Tennessee Titans. The tight end played in 11 games total, starting four of them, and registering five catches for 49 yards and two touchdowns.
The Niners also announced on Friday that they had signed tight end and former second-round pick Jordan Matthews away from the New York Jets to back up All-Pro George Kittle along with a deep position group that still includes Ross Dwelley, Charlie Woerner, and Josh Pederson.
But the concern is less about the detriment to the team that the losses of Hurst or Pruitt specifically create and more about the overall karma for a Niners squade that just can not seem to stay healthy.
Jeff Wilson Jr. tore ligaments in his knee earlier this offseason standing up from a chair in the locker room and could miss nearly half the season. Linebacker Fred Warner issued positive comments on the progression of pass rusher Dee Ford’s potential comeback from back and neck injuries that sidelined him for 15 of the team’s 16 games last year, but his return trajectory has been curbed multiple times already during this calendar year alone.
Injury concerns during the Niners voluntary workout sessions earlier this summer led Shanahan and company to simply pack it in and say enough was enough, breaking off practices several days early.
So to lose a couple of relatively young players on only the third day of camp, before any real contact has even begun, has to make the Niners faithful wonder if some of last year’s incredibly poor injury luck has followed the roster into this season.
At Least One Niners Player is Telling the World He’s Healthy
GettySan Francisco 49ers RB Raheem Mostert ran for 220 yards and four touchdowns in the 49ers 37-20 win over Green Bay in the NFC Championship game.
One Niners player who’s dealt with his fair share of dings, both in 2020 and previously, is running back Raheem Mostert.
Though Mostert took exception to a question Thursday involving a knee brace he wore during practice. And in his indignation, the Niners RB1 made one thing abundantly clear — he’s healthy as an ox.
“I am going to address this one time and one time only. I am NOT injured, and to the media trying to make something out of NOTHING, I won’t allow it,” Mostert wrote on Twitter Thursday evening, July 29, following the second day of official practices. “I wear a knee brace in practice for PREVENTION and for my LONGEVITY in this league.”
“I had this brace made YEARS AGO and wore it in other training camps/practices. Why is it a focus now?” Mostert continued. “I won’t allow you to put me into your “hole” of being old, washed up, and injured. I’m just getting started!”
Let’s hope all the Niners stars can remain as healthy, and as vocal about that health, as Mostert was this week, because no team in the NFL deserves a reprieve from injury woes like the San Francisco 49ers.
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