The turnaround from the San Francisco 49ers 35-7 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to their Week 15 matchup versus the Seattle Seahawks is a quick one. And, in just four days time, the team has several injuries to work through before taking on the second place team in the NFC West. Head coach Kyle Shanahan addressed the media on a phone call Monday morning while players were still being further evaluated. As test results became available throughout the day, there have been updates on several players' injuries.
The 49ers list of injuries includes wide receiver Deebo Samuel (knee, ankle), quarterback Brock Purdy (oblique, rib), defensive lineman Kevin Givens (knee), cornerback Dontae Johnson (ACL), cornerback Ambry Thomas (ankle), defensive lineman Kerry Hyder Jr. (ankle) and Samuel Womack III (concussion protocol).
Last night, the head coach confirmed that Samuel had not suffered any fractures, and on Monday, the team learned Samuel has both an MCL sprain and an ankle sprain. He is considered week-to-week with his injuries and is expected to return at some point in the regular season.
On his call this morning, Shanahan shed a bit more light on Purdy's oblique issue, stating he believed the quarterback sustained the injury on the 49ers second drive of the game. In addition to that oblique issue, Purdy is also working through a rib injury and will be considered day-to-day in terms of a timetable for return. Purdy played through most of Sunday afternoon's game before Josh Johnson stepped in during the fourth quarter.
"I think it was a challenge for him, just talking to him and seeing him after the game," Shanahan said in response to Purdy playing through his injury. "I think he really toughed it out, did some real good things with it. I know he's sore today. So, hopefully the MRI is good today and gives him a chance to play Thursday."
The 49ers next option at the quarterback position is Johnson, who was brought in last week, for his fourth stint with the team. Johnson closed out Sunday's game versus Tampa Bay, playing 11 snaps and connecting on one-of-two passes for 10 yards. He's appeared in 38 games and made nine starts since being drafted by the Buccaneers in the 2008 NFL Draft.
"That's one of the reasons we brought him here, just because Josh is really good at picking things up," Shanahan said. "He can go in, has really good command of the offense. It's Thursday, so no one is getting full speed reps, so that's always a challenge when you get in there but that was the situation for the quarterback last week too."
The head coach was also optimistic about Hyder Jr.'s availability for Thursday. Shanahan had an opportunity to catch up with his defensive lineman postgame.
"I believe if the score was different, he would have been able to go back in, so I do think that is a good sign," Shanahan added.
As for Givens, testing revealed the defensive lineman suffered an MCL sprain and is out for a few weeks. And finally, the team confirmed Johnson tore his ACL, sidelining him for the remainder of the season.
The team will dive into Seahawks prep on Tuesday before departing on Wednesday for their second meeting with Seattle this season.
