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The 49ers placed defensive end Dee Ford on injured reserve prior to Week 9 because of complications with back issues he’s dealt with since college. An update from head coach Kyle Shanahan on Monday indicates there’s no timeframe for his return.
Ford originally went down in Week 7 with a concussion and missed Week 8 because he was in concussion protocol. Then he showed up on the injury report with a back injury in the lead up to Week 9, and he was placed on IR at the end of the week.
Shanahan said the club is taking it day-to-day with Ford, who’ll be required to miss a minimum of three games.
“It’s the same thing as usual guys. Just dealing with that back,” Shanahan said. “We’re not sure. If it lingers very long, we’ll probably go to short time short-term IR, but we haven’t decided that yet. He is on short-term IR, we just don’t know whether he’ll be able to be back in three weeks. It’s day-to-day with that stuff. So we know it’s at least three games, but we’ll wait and see after that.”
Last season Ford played in Week 1 and then missed time with what the team initially said was a neck injury. That was eventually classified as a back issue that sidelined him for the final 15 games.
It’s good news that the 49ers aren’t ruling Ford out, but another back issue for the 30-year-old defensive end is not an optimistic sign for the rest of his 2021 season.
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