SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Almost one year to the day after suffering a torn right ACL in practice, the San Francisco 49ers placed running back Jerick McKinnon on season-ending injured reserve for the second time in as many seasons.
The move on Saturday comes just four days after McKinnon suffered the latest in a series of setbacks when he attempted to take some reps in team drills during practice.
On Wednesday, general manager John Lynch told KNBR radio that McKinnon had “regressed” when going through that Tuesday practice. Thursday night, coach Kyle Shanahan confirmed that McKinnon had another setback and said that the Niners were considering the options for the 27-year-old.
“I can’t get into the exact details of it, but it wasn’t the type of two days we were hoping for for him,” Shanahan said then. “Just getting feedback from him and stuff like that. We’re looking into a number of things here over these two days and we’ll have to make a decision on that Saturday.”
While injured reserve in some form seemed to be the most likely destination for McKinnon, the question entering Saturday was whether the Niners would put the former Vikings running back running back on that list before making the 53-man roster or if they’d wait until Sunday. Had the Niners waited until after McKinnon had been on the roster for 24 hours, they could have put McKinnon on injured reserve while preserving the ability to bring him back later this season. Clearly, the decision to make the move now means the team wasn’t comfortable with McKinnon’s chances to contribute in 2019.
That comes as a disappointment for the Niners after McKinnon had drawn close to a return but suffered a series of setbacks along the way.
After a lengthy rehabilitation process, McKinnon and the 49ers hoped he would be ready at the start of training camp but McKinnon had what Lynch described as a “flare-up” about a week-and-a-half before camp, which led to him starting on the physically unable to perform list.
The Niners activated McKinnon from the PUP list on Aug. 6 and he twice participated in practice on a limited basis before knee soreness shut him down again. At that time, McKinnon had a platelet rich plasma injection, which put him on the sideline for the past three weeks before he returned on Tuesday.
McKinnon suffered the ACL tear on Sept. 1, 2018 and has yet to play a regular season snap for the team since signing his four-year deal on March 14, 2018. His $3.7 million base salary for 2019 became fully guaranteed on April 1 and he’s due to count $5.75 million against the cap for this season.
The Niners are expected to enter this season with Tevin Coleman, Matt Breida and Raheem Mostert as their primary options at running back. The team released running back Jeff Wilson Jr. on Saturday, though he could return to the practice squad if he clears waivers.