The defending NFC champion San Francisco 49ers are coming off an ugly season-opening loss to the Arizona Cardinals. Kyle Shanahan’s squad also can’t catch a break when it comes to injuries.
San Francisco played without wide receivers Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk last week. It was also without the team’s top two centers in that of Weston Richburg and Ben Garland.
We now have some more bad news on this front.
49ers place Pro Bowl cornerback Richard Sherman on injured reserve
New injured reserve rules for the 2020 NFL season indicate that a player can be activated after three weeks. That’s good news for San Francisco given that this is seen as a short-term injury.
The bad news? It’s pretty obvious. Working the other side of the field opposite Sherman, Cardinals wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins caught 14 passes for 151 yards in Week 1. This might not have a major impact Week 2 against a Jets team that lacks true wide receiver talent, but it is a problem moving forward.
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Simply put, the likes of Ahkello Witherspoon and Emmanuel Moseley should not be starting cornerbacks in the NFL. One of them will have to act as the 49ers’ No. 1 corner guy for the next three weeks.
49ers schedule
- At- New York Jets
- At- New York Giants
- Vs- Miami Dolphins
As noted above, the Jets don’t really have anyone to take advantage of Sherman’s injury. That’s not the case with the Giants and Dolphins.
Darius Slayton had himself a tremendous season opener in Monday night’s loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. It’s clear that young New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones will be relying on him more moving forward, especially with Golden Tate hobbled by an injury.
Related: NFL Week 2 schedule, predictions
Week 4’s game against the Dolphins is also now of intrigue. DeVante Parker caught four passes in last week’s loss to the New England Patriots. The former first-round pick is coming off a 1,200-yard season. While Parker is dealing with a hamstring injury himself, he should be good to go for Week 4.