It sounds like veteran Jimmie Ward is going to miss part of the upcoming season. ESPN’s Nick Wagoner writes that the 49ers safety is likely to land on injured reserve to start the regular season, which would knock him out for the first four games.
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Ward originally suffered a hamstring injury back on August 14. The injury was described as “pretty bad,” and while the safety was expected to miss some time with the issue, it was uncertain if it’d extend into the regular season. It sounds like that’ll be the case, meaning Ward would miss at least one game for the sixth-consecutive season.
With that said, the 31-year-old has been healthier in recent years. After being limited to only 16 games between 2017 and 2018, Ward has missed only six contests over the past three years. He started a career-high 16 games this past season, finishing with 77 tackles, six passes defended, and two interceptions. Pro Football Focus ended up ranking him 16th among 92 qualifying safeties last season.
“He allows us to do what we do,” Lynch said (via Wagoner). “He’s a safety who plays like a safety but also covers like a corner. He’s often times our best cover man, so it’s a big loss. But we got to find a way to step up.”
Assuming Ward does miss some time, the 49ers would likely turn to former cornerback Dontae Johnson, Tarvarius Moore, or George Odum. The 49ers also recently signed safety Tashaun Gipson.
COMMENTS CLOSED!!!! Don’t even think about it
My man
Here’s one heck of a comment for you…lol
What a terrible loss for the 49ers, he was the captain of their secondary, and their secondary was looking to be a strong point with C.Ward and E.Moseley solidifying the outside, Womack as the Nickel, and then Lenoir, Thomas, and Q.Knight/D.Johnson as quality backups.
Now, it’ll be up to Hufanga as their SS/box safety, and then they will have T.Moore and G. Odum to mix and match as their safeties are pretty interchangeable.
Hopefully, with Omenihu, Kinlaw, Bosa, D.Jackson, Turay, Ebukam, Givens, Hyder, and Armstead they’ll be able to get enough of a pass rush to help their secondary out as they’re typically forced to do.
However, luckily, they’ll also have one of the best off ball backers in Fred Warner to help in coverage over the middle of the field, and then Greenlaw and Al-Shaiir should be able to continue filling their gaps and flying around making tackles to help out as well…
Until Lance is able to get comfortable and knock off some of his rust, and especially until they’re able to get their OL gelling together, this defense is going to HAVE TO help carry this team. Albeit without their starting tackles and their starting RB, even still the running game has been almost nonexistent for the 49ers early on in games.
Idk if it is just Sermon being a complete dud and just being a poor fit for Kyle’s offense or what, but really only UDFA Jordan Mason has looked good running the football thus far. Soo, it’s a good thing the 49ers front seven has a ton of depth ,because they might need it if the r9ers offense is unable to sustain any significant, long drives to begin the season…
With Roquan Smith in tow and a few other studs on defense the Bears aren’t a cake walk, but thankfully they aren’t facing the Rams, Bills, Saints, Vikings, Chargers, or Raiders defense to kick off the season. So, hopefully they’ll be able to work out some kinks before they get truly tested..
Dude, stop writing books for comments. I know you think it makes you look smart and like you know a lot about your favorite team, but no one is reading all that.
Who gives a crap about looking smart on this comments section!?! lmao…
I’ll write what I want, and as I see fit to express my own thoughts on my favorite team..Or any other team for that matter…
How about this idea, if you want/care to read it, do so, and if you don’t, SKIP IT…
Since I clearly think so highly of myself, I’m not sure if you can comprehend what I’m saying, but just give it your best shot..
You give a crap. That’s why you write dissertations in the comments.
As for the rest of what you said….I didn’t read it. I just assumed you were completing your checklist for how many 49ers players you could mention in a single comment.
It’s absolutely ridiculous that you have to sit out a month if you go on the IR. What is the reasoning behind this?
To prevent teams from stashing a bunch of players on IR for an injury that only keeps them out a week for the purpose of artificially gaining roster space