49ers’ Ford still dealing with knee tendinitis
The injury suffered by the 49ers’ Pro Bowl offensive lineman Sunday overshadowed the injury suffered by their Pro Bowl defensive lineman.
Before left tackle Joe Staley exited late in the third quarter of a 4117 win in Cincinnati with a broken fibula, pass rusher Dee Ford was done after halftime because of knee tendinitis that sidelined him for 27 days this summer.
On Monday, head coach Kyle Shanahan said Ford was “still hurting” and his ability to practice Wednesday would “definitely be in question.”
The question of Ford’s health is significant: In March, the 49ers acquired him to bolster their feeble pass rush by trading a secondround pick to Kansas City and signing Ford to a fiveyear deal worth a maximum of
$85 million.
Ford’s inability to finish Sunday’s game could be a troubling sign for the 49ers when it comes to the chronic knee issue that began at some point during his previous five seasons in Kansas City. On Aug. 27, after Ford practiced for the first time since July 30, he said his long layoff was necessary because his condition worsened this summer.
“This past time, (my knee) got to the point where it (wasn’t functional) and that’s a bad sign,” Ford said. “So we really had to nip that in the bud. But it feels good.”
Still, Ford said “good” didn’t mean he’d be painfree entering the regular season.
“You’re never painfree,” Ford said. “It’s the sport we play, man.”
Shanahan and general manager Lynch said during training camp the plan was to give Ford plenty of rest to significantly reduce his knee discomfort before Week 1. Ford had an injection of plateletrich plasma Aug. 3.
Lynch declared the strategy a success Sept. 4 when asked if Ford would play in the season opener during an interview with the team website.
“Dee Ford is going to be fine,” Lynch said. “Dee’s a Ferrari. And you don’t want a Ferrari not running like a Ferrari. So we wanted to make sure he was full speed ahead. He had some tendinitis that was in there. We wanted it wiped out. And when you see him at practice, everyone feels good that the right decision was made because he is coming. He is fresh. And he’s going to help this team out a lot.”
The 49ers have consistently sounded fairly optimistic about Ford’s health, although he took longer to return to practice this summer than they initially expected. The day after Ford’s plasma injection, Shanahan said of his status: “We’re looking at it daytoday, but that usually takes at least a week” to come back.
Lynch later said the 49ers expected Ford to return to practice in the days leading up to their third preseason game at Kansas City on Aug. 24, but he came back about a week later than anticipated.
The 49ers initially said Ford had a quadriceps injury during camp before describing the issue as “knee tendinitis.” On Sunday, they announced during the game that Ford had a knee injury before Shanahan said he left because of “quad irritation.”
On Monday, Shanahan noted Ford had pain in his “quad, knee area.” The quadriceps muscles are joined in a tendon that attaches to the kneecap.
The potentially encouraging news is that Ford has said he played through pain during his breakout 2018 season when he had 13 sacks, shared the NFL lead with seven forced fumbles and earned his first Pro Bowl berth.
He expressed confidence in late August that his time off this summer would allow him to play with less pain than he did in 2018. Last year, Ford started all 16 games and played 87% of defensive snaps. On Sunday, he was forced to leave after collecting one tackle in 25 snaps.
“We never really spent the time in my past to get the issue gone,” Ford said last month. “And that was a little bit on my end — I like to play through things. I played through it. But now we just don’t want it to be a hindrance so we can really get after the quarterback.”