The 49ers will have to continue waiting on wide receiver Jalen Hurd’s regular season debut. His knee injury that landed him on injured reserve before the regular season, and will keep him there for the rest of the year according to head coach Kyle Shanahan.
Shanahan on Monday in a conference call with reporters didn’t rule out Hurd returning this year, but he expects him to miss the entire season.
“I don’t think we’ve made any announcements or deciding for sure, but I’m not expecting him to come back this year,” Shanahan said.
Hurd tore his ACL during training camp in 2020 and missed the entire year. He was in and out of camp while the team nursed his repaired ligament, but he played in the final preseason game and did enough to earn a spot on the roster.
Complications with his knee forced him onto IR before the regular season, and according to Shanahan, those complications continued after he went on IR.
“We tried to give him some rest because things keep happening and it’s not getting better,” Shanahan said. “We have all these timelines on it and we’re not meeting those deadlines, so it’s not healing the way that we want. I don’t know for sure, but just looking at how it’s gone, I don’t think it’s going to heal fast enough this year for him to help us.”
The 49ers selected Hurd in the third round of the 2019 draft. He missed his rookie season with a back injury after putting together a nice preseason debut with a couple touchdowns. He was supposed to be a multi-faceted weapon who could play wide receiver, running back and tight end for the 49ers. Instead he’s on track to miss his third consecutive season and could wind up never taking a regular-season snap for San Francisco.