The 49ers on Monday got a bit of good offseason injury news during general manager John Lynch’s pre-draft video press conference. He told reporters center Weston Richburg is on track to return to action in time for training camp after tearing his patella Week 14 in New Orleans.
“Now will Weston be ready? He’s on target to be,” Lynch said. “Has the COVID situation, the shelter in place affected that a little bit? A little bit, but remember we’ve all been granted a kind of permission with the injured players that they can receive treatment, so they’ve continued on. Weston’s doing very well. Probably not as close as last year. He’s on target I should say to be ready to play if the season kicks off at the normal time.”
It’s not a given that the NFL season has it’s typical Week 1 kick off in early September. COVID-19 shutdowns have already barred teams from beginning their offseason programs on a regular schedule. There’s a chance, depending on how long COVID-19 has states under stringent shelter in place orders, that the season gets pushed back.
Still, there’s optimism that Richburg will return even if the NFL starts on time. San Francisco has a contingency plan if there is a setback for their starting center. They re-signed Ben Garland who did a nice job filling in for Richburg through the final three games and the postseason.
Continuity is key along the offensive line, and the 49ers offense is at its best when Richburg is manning the center of that unit. It’s why they gave him a five-year, $47.5 million deal at the start of the 2018 season. If he’s back to start the season, San Francisco should hit the ground running on that side of the ball in 2020.
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