The 49ers came out of their win over the Washington Commanders with a few more names on the injury list, and Mike Evans is the one drawing the most attention.
Evans left with an Achilles issue, and Kyle Shanahan said the ailment was nothing new for the receiver. “Just the same thing that was bothering him all week.
Just acted up during the game; couldn’t go. We’ll see how he feels this week.”
Shanahan also said he did not expect Evans to need additional Achilles testing, and Jennifer Lee Chan reported that she’s hearing Evans’ Achilles is intact. That lines up with Shanahan’s overall read on the situation, which he kept short of panic.
The coach said it was “a pretty close call” deciding whether Evans would even be available for the game. He and Evans talked before kickoff, and Evans told Shanahan he’d dealt with the issue during his career and felt sure he could get through Week 6.
Still, the injury clearly affected the game plan. Shanahan said, “It’s something that’s bothered him before, and something that has bothered him throughout the week.
When you have Achilles tendinitis like he does, it kind of is what it is. It flared up tonight.
I hope he recovers throughout the week.
But we don’t think it’s a long-term thing. Right now, it almost cost him this game.
It cost him two quarters. Hopefully, he’ll be able to play next week.
But if not, we’ll have to have the rest of the group step up and hopefully get him healed up after the bye week.
Shanahan said, “That was the confidence he gave me, but we knew he might not be able to last.”
San Francisco also had other injury exits, with Luke Gifford leaving with a groin injury and Upton Stout going out with a shoulder injury.
At receiver, Christian Kirk is still in the conversation for Week 7 against the Falcons. Shanahan called him a “possibility,” saying, “He had two good practices in.
It’s just his first two practices of the year. We were down on wideouts, so it’s still something we discussed.
But we decided to give it another week.”
Demarcus Robinson is not expected to be ready this week, according to Shanahan.
And with the receiver room hit hard, Shanahan made it clear the 49ers may have to piece things together for now. “It’s tough” at wide receiver, he said.
“That’s what you got practice squad guys for. We’ll see how all of our guys heal up.
I’ll be surprised if we got Deebo or D-Rob back until most likely after the bye week. We’ve got enough guys in our building.
We’ll put a plan together and see how it goes.”
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