© Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports
Football is brutal. Injuries are inevitable. Still, over the last two years, the 49ers seem to be especially weighed down by the steady increase of names on the injury report, and the all-too-slow recovery times.
The following is what those injuries looked like last week, before Jeff Wilson Jr. suffered a high ankle sprain (heading to injured reserve), Deebo Samuel suffered a hamstring strain (expected out for at least the next two games) and Richie James Jr. suffered an ankle sprain (day-to-day).
The first list is #49ers players who are OUT due to injury as of 10/23/2020
Second list is 49ers players who have missed at least one game due to injury
The caliber of players is remarkable. pic.twitter.com/UIQQj9voLS
— Jennifer Lee Chan (@jenniferleechan) October 23, 2020
Three of those names above are poised to come off injured reserve in the near future, with the 49ers opening their 21-day practice windows on Wednesday. Those players can return to the active roster at any point in the next 21 days, or will have to revert to injured reserve for the remainder of the season.
Two, in K’Waun Williams and Tevin Coleman are expected to return. The 49ers expected Williams, with a sprained knee and hip pain, to only be on the list for three games and target a return in Seattle. That looks to be on course.
Initially, Coleman, with an MCL sprain, was viewed as a long shot for this week, and still may not return for Seattle. He’ll be a “late-week” decision according to head coach Kyle Shanahan and is unlikely to practice on Wednesday.
The one surprise? Jordan Reed. Reed suffered an MCL sprain in Week 3 against the New York Giants and was expected to be out six-to-eight weeks. This weekend puts him at five weeks, so the 49ers opening his return window is an encouraging sign for his recovery.
San Francisco tends to not to open IR windows unless players are close to their returns. His window closes Nov. 18, before Week 11. The one wrinkle there is that the 49ers have their bye week on Week 11, meaning that if Reed isn’t quite there, he’ll have the bonus of that bye week as effectively an extension of his recovery time.
That week also comes after the quasi-bye following next Thursday (Nov. 5), when the 49ers face the Green Bay Packers. They’ll have 10 days to prepare for the New Orleans Saints immediately followed by their bye week.
Again, though, the 49ers generally open return windows only when players are close to returning.
The team also made some practice squad moves, bringing recently-waived corner Parnell Motley back to their practice squad. From the team:
“The San Francisco 49ers today announced they have signed DL Alex Barrett, WR Chris Finke (FINK) and CB Parnell Motley to the team’s practice squad and released DL Josiah Coatney from the practice squad.”