No. 4: Injury Concerns at Safety
The 49ers have already lost three safeties to injuries during training camp. Jimmie Ward (hamstring), Eric Reid (ankle) and Jaquiski Tartt (ribs) have all missed time.
Reid has since returned, but Tartt is day-to-day and Ward remains on the physically unable-to-perform (PUP) list.
Ward and Reid enter this season as the starting tandem, free and strong safeties, respectively.
But both already have an injury with San Francisco, which doesn’t bode well in Robert Saleh’s defense.
Saleh will be using a lot of Cover 3, which calls for a single-high safety. Ward is slated to do this and has the skill set to excel. But as the last line of defense, Ward’s value needs to be felt on the field. The 49ers defense could experience all kinds of problems if Ward isn’t in the picture.
The Niners best hope is to ensure Ward’s ankle injury, and any other possible setbacks, won’t flare up when the regular season rolls around.