SANTA CLARA — On the precipice of yet another remarkable comeback, 49ers’ cornerback Jason Verrett instead continued his incredible run of bad luck.
Scheduled to be promoted from the practice squad and play a substantial amount in Sunday’s regular season finale against the Los Angeles Rams, Verrett learned that a fall in practice the previous day resulted in a torn rotator cuff.
Verrett will undergo surgery with a four- to six-month recovery period.
The official injury report Friday contained no big surprises. Listed as out were defensive tackle Arik Armstead (foot), safety Ji’Ayir Brown (knee), tight end Ross Dwelley (ankle), safety Tashaun Gipson (quad) and cornerback Ambry Thomas (hand). All will be inactive in addition to quarterback Brock Purdy, who will be rested.
Most other front-line starters, including 11-time Pro Bowl left tackle Trent Williams, are expected to play to varying degrees
The 2023 comeback for Verrett lasted all of five snaps, those coming after halftime in the 49ers’ Christmas night loss to the Baltimore Ravens.
Verrett, 32, joined the 49ers practice squad last month and the Rams game was going to be used to monitor his progress and see if he could be a factor in the postseason.He’s going to be down a little bit and I hope he hangs around here because we love him and this will pass like it always does. It was a long road to get back to this point, I just told him I can’t believe how good he’s looked. I didn’t think it would ever be possible to come back to hat he has, all the knees and the Achilles’, and he did.
A former first round draft pick by the San Diego Chargers, Verrett tore his left Achilles’ tendon at 49ers practice on Nov. 9, 2022. He was lot to a torn right anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee in the 2021 opener in Detroit. HIs first five seasons with the Chargers were cut short by injuries to his left shoulder (2014), left ACL (2016), knee (2017) and right Achilles’.
“He was practicing his butt off all week,” coach Kyle Shanahan said. “He was going to play a lot in this game. He’s been awesome for the last month. He jumped for a ball and just came down on his shoulder in an awkward position. It’s crushing for him but it’s also a shoulder injury. It’s not a knee or a leg.”
Shanahan said Verrett got up quickly from the spill and it appeared his arm was hurt, but initially resisted the idea of an MRI until he came in Friday morning.
The surgery will have a four- to sixth month recovery time. Verrett is not under contract past this season.
“He’s going to be down a little bit and I hope he hangs around here because we love him and this will pass like it always does,” Shanahan said. “It was a long road back to get to this point. I jut told him I can’t believe how good he looked. I didn’t think it would ever be possible to come back from what he’s had like he did.”
Right tackle Colton McKivitz (68) has played more snaps than anyone on the 49ers going into Week 18. A.P. Photo
MCKIVITZ NEARS 1,000 SNAPS: Right tackle Colton McKivitz faced the music in Week 1 and ended up hitting the right notes for an entire season.
McKivitz has played 995 snaps — the most on the 49ers. He’ missed just six snaps all season.
About the only problem with the 49ers’ 30-7 season-opening win was T.J. Watt blowing past McKivitz for three sacks. Given that McKivitz went into the season as somewhat of a question mark for free agent departure Mike McGlinchey, it was a cause for concern among the fan base.
“You see all the stuff that get talked about you,” McKivitz said. “You’re going to hear it, you’re going to feel it.”
Turned out it was a springboard to a solid season.
“You think about it now and it feels like a season away,” McKivitz said. “All I’ve tried to do since playing against T.J. is find something to work on, see what needs to get better and work on that. Eventually, you do it enough, your play gets better. It was a blessing in disguise, I guess. Didn’t feel great at the time.”
Line coach/run game coordinator Chris Foerster conceded there was some concern about Week 1, but it quickly dissipated.
“Some guys, it’s hard, the bright lights come and you don’t want to be the guy everybody sees,” line coach/run game coordinator Foerster said. “Colton’s got that tough mindset to get himself through it.”
McKivitz is a coaches dream in that he takes responsibility.
“I’ll ask him, Hey Colt, what happened on that play,’ ” Foerster said. “And Colt looks at me and says, `Yeah, I didn’t do what you’ve told me to do a thousand times.”
Shanahan said the work McKivitz did last season when McGlinchey was injured won him the job.
“He’s really earned our trust here,” Shanahan said. “When you get to see guys do that in practice and then carry it over to the field, it doesn’t make the guesswork that hard.”
Related Articles
San Francisco 49ers license plate needs 4,800 more orders or the DMV won’t print it
49ers GM Lynch hopeful Arik Armstead returns for playoffs; Trent Williams to start Sunday
Don’t fret, Steve Young. Brock Purdy is rust-proof
49ers QB Sam Darnold sees season-ending showcase as meaningful
How McCaffrey’s maniacal preparation has kept him healthy to carry massive physical burden
STUFFING THE BALLOT BOX: Besides their 12-4 record and abundance of star players, tight end George Kittle has a pretty good idea why the 49er accumulated more Pro Bowl votes than any other team.
“I think my mom had 500,000 of those,” Kittle said. “I’d come home and she’d be sitting on the couch and she’d say, `Don’t bother me. I’m on vote 105 today.’ Keep going mom, you’re doing your best.”
The 49er had nine player voted as starts and 12 as alternates.
NOTABLE
— Return specialist/wide receiver Ray-Ray McCloud will be activated from the injured list after missing the last five games with a rib injury. The 49ers will have to release a player from the 53-man roster to accommodate the move.
— Tackle Jaylon Moore has cleared concussion protocol and will face the Rams. Wide receiver Jauan Jennings, who like Moore has missed the last two games while in the protocol, has one more step to clear and be active.
+ There are no comments
Add yours