Fans understandably feared the worst in the immediate aftermath of wide receiver Mike Evans struggling to breathe and subsequently being carted off to the locker room during the San Francisco 49ers' Week 3 victory over the Arizona Cardinals.
Fortunately, Evans reportedly suffered a rib strain and nothing more, and it was a relief to hear the veteran pass catcher would be day-to-day with his injury—playing Week 4's home showdown against the 2-1 Denver Broncos was certainly a possibility.
Evans didn't practice on Wednesday, which is understandable. And he might not even practice for the rest of the week.
Speaking on his weekly appearance on KNBR 680, however, general manager John Lynch clarified the determining factor in whether or not Evans would be available for Sunday's contest against Denver.
Pain.
Pain tolerance will be Mike Evans' determining Week 4 factor
Lynch left plenty of room for Evans to suit up for Week 4, indicating it would be a pain-tolerance issue.
"He is old school in his mindset, and he doesn't want to miss," Lynch said. "And so, we'll always do what's right for our player and all that stuff, but Mike's going to make every attempt to try to play, and we'll see where that goes. It's still Thursday, and a couple more days before we kick off. He's dealing with that, and we'll see if he can get there by Sunday."
That jives with the original report about Evans' injury, particularly about how painful it can be. The receiver was both grimacing and trying to breathe deeply when he was being helped off the field last Sunday.
Of course, the 49ers can't automatically assume the future Hall of Famer will be available. They already have some contingency plans in place, namely after inking both Brandin Cooks and Dante Pettis to the practice squad to help alleviate the multiple injuries at receiver.
It wouldn't be a shock if at least one of those names is promoted to the active gameday roster, even if Evans is cleared to play. The latter might not be able to make it through a full four quarters of action.
Still, the fact Evans is in this position (painful as it is) certainly breaks from the relative norm the Niners have previously experienced with player injuries over the years. It's not a multi-week setback, fortunately.
And, while Evans' pain tolerance is inconclusive at this point, it's far better than being fully ruled out for an elongated period of time.
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