San Francisco pass rusher Dee Ford is likely done for the season.
Ford hasn’t played since October 24, and head coach Kyle Shanahan said today that he doesn’t expect Ford to return at all.
“I’ll be surprised if he’s back. I think we will have to continue playing without him,” Shanahan said, via Jennifer Lee Chan of NBCSportsBayArea.com.
The 49ers expressed some optimism about Ford returning when they opened the practice window for him to come back from injured reserve, but they have to make a final decision about whether to put him back on the active roster on Wednesday, and it appears safe to say he won’t be back.
Ford signed a five-year, $85 million contract with the 49ers in 2019 but has fallen well short of expectations, recording just 9.5 sacks in 18 games over three seasons. If he’s on the roster next year he’ll have a salary cap hit of $11.9 million for 2022.
