The San Francisco 49ers have already taken another hit before the season has even kicked off.
Defensive tackle Alfred Collins is done for the year after Kyle Shanahan said he suffered a torn patellar tendon Monday. Collins surfaced on the injury report this week, and the news leaves him out for the entire season.
It’s another ugly blow for a team already dealing with injury trouble. Ricky Pearsall’s season ended in August after the team decided he needed surgery for his PCL, and Mykel Williams is on the PUP list. Collins is now the latest player on a rookie contract to lose significant time to a season-ending injury.
For Collins, the timing makes it even worse. He had flashes in 2025, but he was still trying to build the consistency that usually comes with a second season in the league.
There’s at least a rough benchmark for the recovery. The most recent example of an NFL player weighing over 300 pounds to miss time with a torn patellar tendon was Los Angeles Chargers offensive tackle Rashawn Slater, who missed the entire 2025 regular season after hurting his knee in August 2025. His recovery took 10 to 12 months, and he was back at practice for the Chargers OTAs in June.
If everything goes right, Collins could be ready for training camp in 2026. But that kind of recovery does not come easy. A recent 2025 study found that 85.7% of athletes return but do not start as many games as they did before the injury, while another 76.8% fail to get back to their previous performance level.
San Francisco’s depth chart now has to absorb the loss. Osa Odighizuwa is there, but the spot next to him is less settled.
CJ West, Gracen Halton, and James Thompson Jr. are on the depth chart, though Thompson hasn’t been practicing. Shanahan said Thompson Jr.’s availability will depend on how Wednesday’s practice goes for the undrafted free agent.
A practice squad move appears likely with both injuries, and the names in the mix include Sebastian Valdez and Kevin Givens.
The 49ers are in Melbourne, Australia, getting ready for the Los Angeles Rams, and Collins’ absence lands especially hard this close to kickoff. He had a memorable moment in last year’s road game against the Rams, helping stop them from scoring on San Francisco’s own goal line in a win few expected. A repeat of that scene won’t be part of this trip.
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For a defense that has long leaned on Donald as its centerpiece, the wait is the reality fans were hoping to avoid, even if it was always part of the plan. Donald last played in the NFL in 2023, and the earliest expectation for his return is Week 2, leaving the Rams to navigate the opener without one of the most important players in franchise history. [Read more 🡒]