Report says 49ers draft pick Reuben Foster’s shoulder surgery ‘didn’t take.’
Reuben Foster’s offseason shoulder surgery was ineffective and the injury explains why the 49ers’ new inside linebacker nearly slipped out of the first round of the NFL draft last week, ESPN reported.
The 49ers, however, are comfortable with the condition of his right shoulder and are hopeful it will hold up, according to the report, which quoted a well-placed source as saying Foster’s surgery “didn’t take.” Another source predicted Foster wouldn’t finish his rookie season because his shoulder could “give out” on any hit.
On Friday, Foster, a top-10 talent who was selected 31st overall, said previous reports that he might require a second surgery on the shoulder were “not accurate at all.”
“I’m making good progress,” Foster said. “I’ll be limited in OTAs. In training camp, I’ll be a full go. If it’s my decision, I think I can go now.”
General manager John Lynch said the 49ers had rated Foster as the draft’s third-best prospect and were prepared to select him No. 3 overall if their second-rated player, Stanford defensive lineman Solomon Thomas, hadn’t been available. They traded a fourthround pick to Seattle to move up three spots to select Foster.
In free agency, the 49ers signed inside linebacker Malcolm Smith. All-Pro inside linebacker NaVorro Bowman has been medically cleared after he suffered a torn Achilles tendon Oct. 2. Burying the hatchet? Jed York and Jim Harbaugh breaking bread together?
The 49ers’ CEO said he’s hopeful that will happen. York extended an olive branch to his former head coach when asked on the MMBQB Podcast with Peter King if he has any regrets about not signing Harbaugh to a contract extension before their union dissolved after the 2014 season.
York, of course, has been asked multiple times about his “mutual parting” with Harbaugh, but he offered his most expansive answer on King’s podcast. A possible reason? The 49ers have a 7-25 record since Harbaugh’s exit, but they appear to be trending in the right direction after hiring head coach Kyle Shanahan and Lynch.
York spoke with King on Friday, a day after the 49ers had a first-round draft that was widely hailed as brilliant, and could have been in just the right mood to discuss Harbaugh, whose last comments about York and former general manager Trent Baalke weren’t complimentary. Said Harbaugh of the two in March: “When it comes to building a ball team, what they know could not blow up a small balloon.”
Here’s how York responded when asked if he regrets not signing Harbaugh to an extension:
“I don’t know if regret is the right word. We had a lot of success together. We tried a lot of times to get an extension done with Jim and for whatever reason, those didn’t culminate . ... We obviously didn’t have success after Jim left.
“I regret how we performed the last two years. I regret how the relationship was frayed between me and a coach that did a lot of great things for this franchise. And I actually talked to his brother (Baltimore head coach) John (Harbaugh) briefly at the owners’ meetings and he said, ‘You know, you guys need to get together some time and have dinner.’
“I’d love to get together. And I think enough time has kind of passed where you can let whatever issues that were there be buried and just truly be thankful for three great years.”