The San Francisco 49ers moved to 6-0 on Monday night but it came at a cost with wide receiver Mike Evans suffering a recurrence of the Achilles problem that had prevented him from practising last week.
The 49ers edged out the Washington Commanders 23-17 but it was a game of two halves. The first saw Evans and running back Christian McCaffrey cause havoc but the former’s departure late in the second quarter saw a swing in momentum as the Commanders hit back.
Evans has struggled with tendonitis in his right Achilles for some time but his absence left the Niners without a key offensive option. The race is on now to try to get him fit for Sunday’s game with the Atlanta Falcons.
“It’s something that he’s had before,” San Francisco coach Kyle Shanahan said. “It’s something that bothered him throughout the week. When you have Achilles tendinitis like he does, it kind of is what it is….
“I hope he recovers throughout the week, but you don’t think it’s a long-term thing, but right now it ended up costing him two quarters and 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 by after the bye week.”
Evans injury another blow for depleted San Francisco
San Francisco have arguably over-performed this season given they are also without fellow wideouts Ricky Pearsall (knee), De’Zhaun Stribling (ankle), Demarcus Robinson (ankle), Deebo Samuel (hamstring) and Christian Kirk (calf).
Kirk is the closest to returning but it is not an ideal situation for the NFC South leaders.
“It’s tough, especially also on a short week,” Shanahan said. “It’s what you got practice squad guys for. … We’ll see how our guys heal up. … We’ve got enough guys in our building, so we’ll put a plan together and see how it goes.”
Commanders also lose key man in McLaurin
The Commanders had their own injury worry with Terry McLaurin carted off with a potentially serious knee problem.
McLaurin went down in the first quarter after changing direction sharply when running a route.
The wide receiver has a team-high 230 yards receiving, with one touchdown, this season but the fear is he could now be out for a while.
“He’s a brother to me. It sucks,” Washington quarterback Jayden Daniels said. “You see how hard he works … Praying for Terry. He’s been there for me through a lot since I came into this league, the adverse times I went through last year and so far this year, and he’s been right by my side. I love Terry and appreciate him a lot.”
The Commanders are now 1-4-1 after succumbing to two touchdowns from McCaffrey while Niners QB Brock Purdy went 21-of-29 for 264 yards and officially became the highest-rated passer in NFL history after reaching the 1,500-attempt threshold to qualify. His 105.6 rating is ahead of Lamar Jackson’s 102.7.
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