The 49ers suffered another major injury blow on Sunday, losing standout cornerback Emmanuel Moseley for the season with a torn ACL. Moseley has been a key part of arguably the best secondary in football, and now San Francisco will have to figure out how to replace a player who was on a Pro Bowl trajectory.
The most logical replacement is Jason Verrett, but he’s also coming back from a torn ACL sustained last season. Kyle Shanahan said he’s got a chance to make his return this Sunday vs. the Falcons, but Matt Maiocco isn’t so sure.
“My guess is they are going to be ultra cautious with him,” Maiocco said on KNBR “I don’t know if artificial turf comes into play, but obviously they’re going to be playing on artificial turf in Atlanta. He only had basically one full speed practice last week because coming off the Monday night game they had a very light week. Basically two walkthrough practices and then something that resembled full speed.
“So my guess would be that unless he really shows up and looks to be 100 percent and they have no fears, unless that happens they go with those other guys whether it’s Deommodore Lenoir or Sam Womack or Ambry Thomas or Dontae Johnson from the practice squad. I just think there’s no real rush to get Verrett back out there, that when he’s ready to go he’s ready to go.”
Verrett has had his career derailed due to injuries, but was excellent in 2020 in his one healthy season with the 49ers. If he can figure out a way to stay on the field, SF might not lose much.
“They don’t need him this week, they don’t need him next week, they need him when the calendar flips to November / December and then potentially the playoffs,” Maiocco continued.
“If Jason Verrett is up to the level that we remember him being before he got injured this last time, the 49ers don’t lose a whole lot there. Jason Verrett is a really good player, so they can plug him in and the defense is just as good. It’s not as deep, but the defense can be just as good with Verrett out there as opposed to Moseley.”
Listen to the full interview below. You can listen to every KNBR interview on our podcast page at knbr.com/podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Catch Tolbert & Copes weekdays from 2 – 6 p.m. on KNBR 104.5 / 680 and streaming live on KNBR.com.