It looks like running back Jerick McKinnon will have to wait for his San Francisco 49ers debut a bit longer than it was expected. McKinnon, who missed the entire 2018 season with an ACL tear, has suffered a setback in his rehab process on Tuesday and might head to Injured Reserve list.
During an interview with KNBR, 49ers’ general manager John Lynch discussed McKinnon’s rehab process and said that things didn’t look encouraging once he returned to practice during the training camp.
“It’s a real bummer because you keep getting to the final step and the final step is actually playing NFL football, and particularly at his position, where you have to make hard cuts, you have to put your foot on the ground, and we did it a month ago and he kind of regressed and I would say yesterday we had a similar situation,” said Lynch.
McKinnon signed a four-year, $30 million deal with 49ers in 2018, but ended up tearing his ACL just before the season started. Although he was expected to recover in time for 2019’s season opener, a series of setback prolonged his return to the field. The 27-year-old first suffered a flare-up in July and then struggled with knee sourness in early August.
If Jerick McKinnon continues to struggle with his comeback, there is a possibility that he will be out of San Francisco even before he gets a chance to make his debut for the 49ers. The team can place McKinnon on the injured reserve list for the entire season if they think he won’t be able to contribute in 2019 and then cut him without any costs at the end of the season.
Before joining 49ers, McKinnon spent the first four years of his NFL career with Minnesota Vikings. During his time with the organization, he rushed for 1,918 yards and seven touchdowns while also having 142 receptions for 984 yards and five TDs.
