49ers news: Charvarius Ward injured, a rookie defender waived

It sounds like the 49ers are going to be a little shorthanded within their secondary when the preseason kicks off on Friday, Aug. 12.

No panic buttons to press here for the San Francisco 49ers.

However, the Niners are going to be without their top cornerback, Charvarius Ward, at the conclusion of training camp and heading into their first preseason game of the 2022 campaign against the Green Bay Packers this Friday.

Speaking on KNBR 680’s Murph & Mac Show Wednesday morning, which marks the final day of training camp, head coach Kyle Shanahan noted how Ward is dealing with a muscle strain and would be out for a little while.

“He had a little setback here with a muscle strain, so he’ll be out here for the next probably two weeks or so,” Shanahan said of Ward. “But he’s gotten enough baseline in to where his camp has been perfect. At least now I know he’s not going to get a serious injury here in the next two weeks, and he’ll be ready to go here Week 1.”

A relief from that vantage point, especially considering Ward was San Francisco’s big-ticket free-agent pickup during the offseason and has effectively turned the 49ers’ cornerback room from a weakness into a strength.

Ward and fellow cornerback Emmanuel Moseley were held out of practice on Monday, so perhaps Shanahan’s comments explain the former’s absence.

It wouldn’t be shocking to see the Niners rest Ward until Week 1 of the regular season, which begins for San Francisco with a road contest against the Chicago Bears on Sunday, Sept. 11.

49ers waive/injured rookie safety Leon O’Neal Jr.

Elsewhere on the 49ers news wire, the team waived/injured undrafted free-agent rookie defensive back Leon O’Neal Jr., whom the team signed out of Texas A&M after he slipped through the 2022 NFL Draft.

O’Neal had some promise as an in-the-box safety, but multiple reports from training camp suggested he wasn’t getting close to claiming one of the backup spots behind presumed starters, Jimmie Ward and Talanoa Hufanga, on the regular-season 53-man roster.

Read More: What we learned from Week 2 of 49ers training camp

And while it’s not yet clear what the injury is for O’Neal, assuming he clears waivers, he can revert back to the Niners’ injured-reserve list if no other team claims him.

In a corresponding move, San Francisco signed cornerback Ken Crawley to a one-year deal.

Crawley, 29 years old, has spent the bulk of his seven-year career with the New Orleans Saints where he first broke into the league with them as an undrafted free agent out of Colorado in 2016.

Over his career, Crawley has 138 tackles, 32 passes defended and two interceptions over 55 games played.