ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that the San Francisco 49ers will be without Kyle Juszczyk for a ‘couple of weeks’ due to a hyperextended knee. Those were the initial tests. Juszczyk will undergo an MRI on Monday to confirm whether those initial tests were accurate.
Juszczyk has played a pivotal role for the 49ers this season. They ask him to do everything. He caught a slant route from Brock Purdy that led to a first down, and the other reception also moved the chains for the offense. But it’s been
the blocking and usage on dash motion that have helped the running game take off this season. Juszczyk is a big reason why.
In Week 3, the 49ers had Juszczyk covering punts. If the team is short on depth in one area, Juszczyk is probably the backup.
Short on wide receivers and with Jake Tonges going down, Juszczyk has lined up everywhere on offense. Here’s a look at his snap alignment through four weeks:
Tight end – 44
Slot/stack WR – 35
FB -23
Wing (attached off-tackle) – 14
WR – 6
RB – 3
It’s a huge loss for an offense that prides itself on multiplicity. Brayden Willis played 10 snaps and ran three routes for Juszczyk. Willis missed one of his 7 run-blocking snaps. And now he’ll go against the best defense in the league. We’ll see whether he is the fullback or they ask more of Luke Farrell.
