How 49ers make up for Jimmie Ward’s absence in Week 1

The 49ers are likely to be without veteran safety Jimmie Ward in Week 1 against the Bears, meaning this solution likely plays out.

Any injury for a key player is bad news no matter what the circumstance.

However, at least for San Francisco 49ers veteran safety Jimmie Ward, it occurred nearly a month before the Niners kick off their 2022 regular-season campaign against the Chicago Bears.

Ward, who suffered a hamstring injury during practice after San Francisco’s preseason victory over the Green Bay Packers on Aug. 12, is expected to miss that first week when the 49ers head to Chicago.

Dr. Marc Safran from Stanford Medicine spoke to NBC Sports Bay Area’s Jennifer Lee Chan to help clarify what the timeline is:

"It depends on the severity and the demands on Jimmie Ward. Two to three weeks is on the short side with a Grade 1 or 2 (strain). With a good medical staff like they have with the 49ers, [Week 1] is a possibility. A higher grade strain tends to take a little bit longer. Sometimes four to six weeks if it’s a Grade 2 type of strain."

Five weeks would mean Ward misses Week 1, and the Niners may want to be cautious anyway. And while a month affords Ward some time to heal up, it also affords San Francisco the chance to come up with a contingency plan.

49ers options to replace Jimmie Ward for Week 1

Head coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters the team would consider bringing in some free-agent help to make up for Ward’s potential absence, compounded by the fact fellow defensive back Dontae Johnson is out with a ribs injury suffered in the Packers game.

Johnson would have been a safety reserve, but the deployment the 49ers end up using against the Bears might be something they try out over the upcoming two preseason games against the Minnesota Vikings and Houston Texans, respectively.

Second-year pro Talanoa Hufanga is expected to start this season at strong safety. However, his prowess is largely towards the box and not in a traditional two-high set. Hufanga simply doesn’t have the athleticism or speed to patrol that big a range.

Prior to Ward’s injury, one of the expectations was for the Niners to use former third-round NFL Draft pick Tarvarius Moore in a big-nickel third-safety role, which he’s done before to some moderate success, and one can likely expect that to be the plan here.

Albeit with a little more frequency with Ward out.

The biggest benefactor, though, is likely veteran safety George Odum, the former Indianapolis Colts’ special teams ace who received a first-team All-Pro nod back in 2020 for his work on the third phase of the game but has just 10 starts over his pro career.

With San Francisco and Minnesota squaring off in joint practices before their preseason bout on Saturday, Aug. 20, Odum managed to see the bulk of first-team reps:

Read More: Jimmie Ward, Kyle Juszczyk land on NFL Top 100 list

49ers shouldn’t worry about a vaunted Bears passing attack

Another reason why the 49ers may choose to be patient with Ward’s recovery is the nature of their opponent, the Bears.

Chicago did little to improve the offensive weaponry surrounding second-year quarterback Justin Fields this season, and losing one-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Allen Robinson to the Los Angeles Rams in free agency doesn’t help matters either.

And while Fields is expected to make notable strides in his own development, it’s still safe to assume Chicago’s pass attack will be relatively weak.

Unless Darnell Mooney, Equanimeous St. Brown and former Niners wideout Dante Pettis are viewed as fear-factor weapons.

A week later, San Francisco hosts the post-Russell Wilson era Seattle Seahawks. And while the Hawks still boast upper-echelon wide receivers in D.K. Metcalf and Tyler Lockett, trusting quarterbacks Drew Lock and Geno Smith to get either of them the ball doesn’t exactly prompt a lot of fear either.

The 49ers would prefer Ward back, yes, but the contingency trio of Odum, Moore and Hufanga is likely to bridge the gap until the Niners face Wilson and the Denver Broncos in Week 3 at the very latest.