Among the many things done wrong by the San Francisco 49ers during the team’s disastrous Week 7 20-3 loss to the Seattle Seahawks, one of the worst is the fact that running back Carlos Hyde started even though the team knew he had a stress fracture in his left foot.
Tracy Wolfson of CBS reported Hyde admitted before the game that he did have the stress fracture but would still take the field.
Despite what Carlos Hyde calls a stress fracture in his left foot he will play today. @49ers @NFLonCBS #TNF
— Tracy Wolfson (@tracywolfson) October 22, 2015
When asked about the injury following the Thursday night debacle, Hyde responded “something like that,” per Paul Gutierrez of ESPN.
Hyde carried the ball just 11 times for 40 yards, and the 49ers as a team rushed for just 61 yards on 15 carries. Reggie Bush was the only other running back to carry the ball in the loss to Seattle, but it must be pointed out the team did find success to the tune of 4.1 yards per carry.
The 49ers showed extremely poor long-term judgement by allowing their star running back to play. This is the type of injury that can cause detrimental long-term performance, and this is the guy the team pinned its hopes on after letting Frank Gore leave via free agency this past offseason.
After the game, Matt Maiocco reported whispers of “something big” happening in the wake of San Francisco’s embarrassing loss to Seattle. There have been many mistakes made by the current coaching staff, and the casual disregard for the long-term safety of the team’s featured running back ranks up there with the worst of them.