San Francisco 49ers rule linebacker Tatum Bethune out for season with groin injury amid mounting health issues
The 12-5 San Francisco 49ers are nearly out of healthy linebackers after losing Tatum Bethune with less than a week to go before their playoff opener.
The second-year middle linebacker out of Central Florida was making his return from an ankle injury against the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday when he fell to the turf during the second half. He would be tended to by trainers before heading to the locker room as the 49ers fell, 13-3.
With the loss, the 49ers surrendered the NFC West, the top seed in the NFC playoffs and a first-round bye to the rival Seahawks.
On Monday, the team placed Bethune on injured reserve, thereby ending his season.
Meanwhile, linebackers Luke Gifford (quadriceps) and Dee Winters (ankle) are both expected to play in the wild-card matchup with the reigning Super Bowl-champion Philadelphia Eagles on Saturday.
And most importantly, All-Pro linebacker Fred Warner is still optimistic about a potential return later in the playoffs after suffering a dislocated and fractured right ankle in Week 6.
San Francisco 49ers linebacker Tatum Bethune reacts after injuring himself in Saturday’s loss
Bethune (pictured) took on greater importance in his second season after Fred Warner’s injury
That leaves veteran Eric Kendricks as well as Garret Wallow and Curtis Robinson as the only healthy linebackers at the 49ers facility in Santa Clara this week.
The Niners have battled injury problems all season and are currently without edge rushers Mykel Williams (knee) and Nick Bosa (knee), both of whom remain on IR.
The mounting injuries on defense haven’t hurt the 49ers too much. San Francisco managed to beat the Tennessee Titans, Indianapolis Colts and Chicago Bears in Weeks 15-17 despite surrendering nearly 30 points a game over that time.
Defensive coordinator Robert Salah’s unit bounced back against the NFC-best Seahawks on Sunday, but it was the offense that came apart in the 13-3 loss.
‘All these other games were we pulled away and had good points and stats and all that stuff is because we execute on the gritty third downs and stay on the field and then we go and score touchdowns after that,’ quarterback Brock Purdy told reporters after the loss. ‘So obviously that’s something we needed to do tonight. We didn’t and the scoreboard shows it.’
Now the 49ers move on to Philadelphia to face an Eagles team on Saturday that has struggled offensively, ranking 19th and 24th in the league in points and yardage, respectively.
A year after rushing for 2,005 yards, Eagles running back Saquon Barkley had a more modest 1,140 yards this season, albeit in 65 fewer carries.
Along the way, the Eagles offense downshifted. After scoring on 44.5 percent of offensive drives last year, Philadelphia saw that figure drop to 35 percent this season.
