The San Francisco 49ers cruised their way to a 27-7 win over the Los Angeles Rams in Australia in Week 1, putting their stamp on the NFL’s favorite to win the Super Bowl in a game where everything went right for them.
Well, almost everything. San Francisco lost De’Zhaun Stribling early to an ankle injury, and he appeared to re-aggravate the issue shortly after re-entering the field, although the initial outlook seemed far worse with the non-contact nature of the injury.
Following the game, head coach
Kyle Shanahan eased worries, noting that it was an ankle injury and that Stribling’s Achilles was intact after being carted off the field.
Ian Rapoport shared some details on the injury on Friday morning, noting the good news, while mentioning that Stribling will likely miss some time now and that the tests will have to wait until after the 49ers’ flight back from Australia.
“We were excited about the debut of De’Zhaun Stribling, one of the more exciting rookies in the NFL this year,” Rapoport said. “Certainly someone who’s going to be a big part of the 49ers offense. That seemed to hit a little bit of a pause after last night. Early in the game, you could see him limping on the field, left with an ankle injury, came back, and ends up exiting with what seemed to be the same ankle injury.
“Good news: it’s not an Achilles. He went down kind of like it was, but it is not. That’s what Kyle Shanahan postgame did say. It is an ankle injury. They’re going to see what kind of ankle injury it is. He’s going to have tests but, I don’t know if you guys know this, but they’ve got about a 16-hour flight now, so those tests will have to wait a little bit, but it seems based on the injury that Stribling will likely miss time for the 49ers.”
Stribling’s usage prior to his injury was quite notable. While he didn’t get a target in his debut, Stribling was actually the receiver with the most snaps through the time of his injury, being the clear wideout next to Mike Evans in two-receiver sets.
Even after Stribling went out, Deebo Samuel saw a limited snap share, playing only 27 of 65 snaps on Thursday, while Demarcus Robinson stepped into Stribling’s role with 41 snaps.
It could be a high-ankle sprain for Stribling, which might cost him a few weeks, but it’s a good sign that he’s not dealing with a significant injury like initially suspected.
