https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/article/49ers-had-miserable-injury-luck-in-2024-and-somehow-it-seems-to-be-happening-again-182319708.html
Last season the San Francisco 49ers had a rash of injuries that teams usually don’t experience.
And now it looks like the 49ers might experience it again.
The 49ers will be without quarterback Brock Purdy for two to five weeks due to a toe injury, according to NFL Media. And if that was the only injury, it wouldn’t be ideal but manageable. Just about every team has some injury they’re dealing with, even this early in the season. Having a quarterback out for multiple games is a worst-case scenario, but Mac Jones is a capable backup.
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But Purdy’s injury isn’t the only one. Tight end George Kittle is on injured reserve. Receiver Jauan Jennings is dealing with a shoulder issue. Offensive tackle Trent Williams was hobbling in the opener with a knee injury. The 49ers had 12 players listed on the injury report Wednesday. It’s only Week 2.
At least the 49ers are used to dealing with injuries. The same thing happened last season.
49ers deal with injuries again
The 49ers were decimated last season. According to the adjusted games lost metric by Aaron Schatz of FTN Fantasy, the 49ers lost the second-most games due to injury on offense and the third-most on defense last season. Unsurprisingly, the 49ers topped the league in games lost due to injury. They lost 141.2 adjusted games due to injury, more than 22 more than any other team.
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That’s just bad luck. And injury luck that bad shouldn’t happen in back-to-back years.
[Get more 49ers news: San Francisco team feed]
The 49ers went 6-11 last season despite being a Super Bowl contender going into the season. When you lose all your running backs, including Christian McCaffrey, and also have losses on all three levels of the defense and also wide receiver, even the best team can have double-digit losses.
This season the 49ers came into the season with one of the highest projected win totals in the NFL, despite going 6-11 last season. Oddsmakers figured that a healthy 49ers team would bounce right back.
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McCaffrey, whose durability was a constant topic of conversation all season, is healthy. He’s one of the few in San Francisco.
Brock Purdy of the San Francisco 49ers could miss multiple games with a toe injury. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
(Steph Chambers via Getty Images)
Brock Purdy reportedly to miss multiple games
This 49ers group had a Super Bowl window, obviously. They led in overtime of the Super Bowl against the Kansas City Chiefs two seasons ago, and lost. But they should have been contenders for at least a couple more seasons.
It was a team that didn’t have a window that would last forever, though. There were aging stars like Kittle, McCaffrey and Williams. Purdy went from being one of the cheapest quarterbacks in the NFL to one of the most expensive. Cap issues led to the team having a massive talent drain this offseason. This week’s release of kicker Jake Moody, a questionable third-round pick in 2023, was a reminder of the many recent draft picks that the 49ers whiffed on. That has cut into the depth of the roster.
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All of a sudden, the worry is that horrendous injury luck might be a big reason the 49ers never cashed in on their Super Bowl championship potential.
Purdy and Kittle will return relatively early in the season, and the 49ers are good enough to navigate the early-season schedule with minimal damage. Purdy and Kittle will probably be managing their injuries even after they return, however. And it’s not like the 49ers are promised to not take on any new injuries in September. They seem cursed in that department.
If you look at the end of the season, the teams that stayed the healthiest will make up most of the playoff field. The 49ers have to wonder what they did to deserve this bad injury luck yet again.
https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/article/49ers-had-miserable-injury-luck-in-2024-and-somehow-it-seems-to-be-happening-again-182319708.html
