Last season the major narrative surrounding the San Francisco 49ers was the sheer volume of major injuries the team suffered. For anyone who thought that maybe the 2026 campaign would provide a bit of a respite from all of the injuries, they were in for a rude awakening in just the first half of Week against the Los Angeles Rams in Australia after already losing key players before the season began.
Rookie wide receiver De'Zhaun Stribling went down with an injury that was serious enough that he had to be helped off the field and could not put any weight on his left leg before being carted to the locker room.
Stribling left the game briefly in the first half with an ankle issue, but then he tried to come back and play through it. He came up limp, even though he wasn't contacted on the play, which is usually not a great sign and could suggest an injury that keeps him out for a while.
He was at least ruled out for the rest of the game.
The Niners were hoping Stribling would be a big part of their passing attack even though he is just a rookie. After they already lost Ricky Pearsall for the year due to knee surgery, Stribling seemed primed for a big role but he may have been robbed of that as soon as the season began.
Fortunately, head coach Kyle Shanahan said postgame it wasn't a ruptured Achilles, but the injury extent isn't fully clear yet.
49ers don't just lose De'Zhaun Stribling to potentially serious injury
As if that wasn't bad enough, backup tight end Jake Tonges also had to leave the game and was unable to put any weight on his leg before being carted to the locker room.
He was trying to block Rams edge rusher Myles Garrett, which is not easy for anyone, but Tonges stuck his leg out to try to stop him and seemingly injured himself. The Cal product was ruled out for the rest of the game as well.
Shanahan said it's an MCL issue for the No. 2 tight end.
Even though George Kittle was able to start the game, Tonges was still seen as a very important insurance policy after he filled in nicely for San Francisco when Kittle was out last season.
It wouldn't be a 49ers season without major injuries, though. Every NFL team deals with them, but it truly does feel like the 49ers just suffer way more injuries, especially major ones, compared to other teams.
The Niners will now have to rely on other players. Demarcus Robinson and Jacob Cowing will have to step up with Stribling out, and Luke Farrell and Brayden Willis will probably have to fill in for Tonges.
It's not a great start to the season after so much carnage last season, but at this point, San Francisco fans know not to expect anything different.
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