The 49ers will have to do some patchwork in their secondary to start the season.
General manager John Lynch appeared on the Amazon Prime Thursday Night Football pre-game show and shared that starting free safety Jimmie Ward will likely begin the season on short-term injured reserve. Ward will miss at least the first four games of the season: against the Chicago Bears, Seattle Seahawks, Denver Broncos and Los Angeles Rams.
This is a big blow for the vaunted 49ers defense, as Ward is the lynchpin of the secondary and regarded as one of the best players on the team. He is also the longest-tenured 49ers player with eight seasons in San Francisco.
“He's been our best safety the whole time we've been here,” Kyle Shanahan said on Aug. 5. “And the only thing that's held him back is injuries.”
Ward has also dealt with a broken collarbone, broken wrist and broken foot throughout his career.
Without the veteran, players like Tarvarius Moore and George Odum will compete for the No. 1 spot at free safety, alongside strong safety Talanoa Hufanga. Odum started in Thursday’s preseason finale against the Houston Texans.
Starting cornerback Emmanuel Moseley returned to practice earlier this week after sitting out with a hamstring injury, while fellow starting corner Charvarius Ward is scheduled to return next week in practice.
The 49ers will open the season on Sept. 12 against the Bears, who don’t have much offensive firepower surrounding second-year quarterback Justin Fields. Ditto for Geno Smith and the Seahawks, but the 49ers secondary should get tested against Russell Wilson and the Broncos in Week 3 and Matt Stafford and the Rams in Week 4.
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