The San Francisco 49ers look set to be without free safety Jimmie Ward for at least the first four weeks of the season.
GM John Lynch said on Thursday ahead of the 49ers’ preseason finale vs Houston that the team had plans of putting the veteran FS on the injury reserve list for the start of the season.
#49ers GM John Lynch announced that S Jimmie Ward will likely be placed on the short-term IR and miss the first 4 weeks.
— NFL Trade News (@NFLTradeNews) August 26, 2022
However, Ward will need to be named on the 53-man roster before he can join this list, because if he went on the IR before the roster was announced, this would mean he’d be ineligible to play for the whole season.
Lynch told Amazon Prime’s broadcast team what the situation means for the team.
“He’s a safety who plays like a safety, but also covers like a corner.
“He’s often at times our best cover man, so it’s a big loss. We’ll probably have him on the short term IR for the first four games of the season which is a big loss. But we have to find a way to step up”.
The 49ers have been looking at options since the loss of Ward through his injury, and on Monday they signed veteran FS Tashaun Gipson on a one year deal – who will likely come in as a replacement. Of course, there are other options on the roster as well such as Tavarius Moore and George Odum.
The #49ers are signing veteran safety Tashaun Gipson, per @AdamSchefter pic.twitter.com/H5kKkGmSnD
— OurSF49ers (@OurSf49ers) August 22, 2022
With Ward set to miss the first four matches, figuring out who will start in his place will be one of the biggest priorities before the September 11 opener against Chicago Bears.
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