The San Francisco 49ers may need to find a long-term replacement for injured defensive end Sam Okuayinonu
Head coach Kyle Shanahan on Sunday spoke with media in a press conference and said Okuayinonu broke his foot and will require surgery.
"He had a plate in his foot awhile ago," Shanahan said. "On our bonus practice the day we came (to Australia) just stepped on it and it broke. So yeah he's gonna have to get surgery. It was a bad injury. Hopefully we can get him back later in the year, but it was a real tough loss. Hurt for Sam O. Hurt for our team, but hopefully we can take care of business and he can come back later in the year."
The 49ers placed Okuayinonu on injured reserve where he'll be eligible to return. They signed veteran Khalid Kareem
to take his place.
Okuayinonu has been a nice success story over the last couple of years for San Francisco. In 2024 he was thrust into a substantial role where he played in 16 games with three starts. He logged 35 tackles, 3.0 sacks and six tackles for loss. Last season injuries pushed Okuayinonu into a significant role again where he started 12 of his 15 games and again had 3.0 sacks and six tackles for loss to go with 39 tackles.
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This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: Kyle Shanahan details 'bad injury' for 49ers DE who will need surgery
