The San Francisco 49ers keep getting dealt injuries seemingly every time they take the field, but they aren’t letting it bother them too much. After picking up a 20-10 victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday Night Football in Week 7, the Niners pushed their record to 5-2 on the season, despite being perhaps the most injury-ravaged team in the NFL.
One of the most crushing injuries that the 49ers were dealt recently involved superstar linebacker Fred Warner, who is expected to miss the rest of the season after suffering a dislocated and broken ankle in Week 6. With Warner done for the year, San Fran needs more help at the linebacker position, which led them to reunite with one of their former players on Tuesday.
49ers Re-Sign Stone Blanton to Practice Squad
Of all the injuries the 49ers have suffered this season, Warner’s season-long absence may very well end up being the most consequential of the bunch. Over the past five seasons, Warner has earned Pro Bowl and All-Pro First Team selections four times, and when it comes to the middle linebacker position, there isn’t a more impactful player in the league than him.
With Warner out, San Francisco is relying on Tatum Bethune to step up and fill in for him, and he did a great job against Atlanta. If something were to happen to Bethune, though, the Niners are perilously thin at the middle linebacker spot, which led the front office to go out and bring in a player who starred for them over the summer.
That player would be undrafted rookie linebacker Stone Blanton, who spent training camp with the Niners. Blanton developed a reputation for being a tackling machine during his time in college with the South Carolina Gamecocks and Mississippi State Bulldogs, and he has now re-signed with San Fran as a member of its practice squad as an extra layer of depth behind Bethune at the linebacker position.
“49ers signing linebacker Stone Blanton to practice squad, per a league source,” Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2 Houston reported in a post on X.
49ers Looking to Continue Winning Ways in Week 8
GettyHead coach Kyle Shanahan of the San Francisco 49ers.
Considering all the injuries the 49ers have dealt with through the first seven weeks of the season, the front office has been quite busy swapping players out on its roster to ensure that they have all its bases covered. Chances are, Blanton won’t be finding his way onto the active roster anytime soon, but if the team needs help at middle linebacker, it’s better to have an in-house option in place, rather than being forced to scramble at the last second.
San Francisco will look to continue to defy the odds in Week 8 by going out and winning another game, despite being severely shorthanded. Doing that could be difficult against Houston, although it is worth noting that the team is just 2-4 through its first six games, thanks in large part to its offensive woes. Kickoff for this game is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET on Sunday, with the Niners looking to earn their sixth win of the year.
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