San Francisco 49ers Wide Receiver Pierre Garçon Out for the Season With Neck Injury
The San Francisco 49ers will have to play on without their leading receiver for the remainder of the season.
During an appearance on KNBR-AM in San Francisco on Thursday, 49ers general manager John Lynch revealed that they are placing Pierre Garçon on the injured reserve list because of a broken bone in his neck.
"Our medical staff just thought something wasn't right and they sent him for more testing, and last night, we found out he has a non-displaced fracture of the right c5 pedicle," Lynch said.
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He also noted that the recovery time for this type of injury is usually eight weeks. That means Garçon's not going to be available for the final eight games of the season.
"They have to immobilize it. Unfortunately, a guy who's been one of our, if not our best, players this season is out," Lynch stated, via 49ers Webzone.
The veteran wide receiver injured his neck late in the second quarter of their 33–10 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles last Sunday after he took a hit from linebacker Nigel Bradham and crashed into Eagles defensive coach Ken Flajole at the sideline.
Garçon didn't return to the game, but the injury wasn't initially believed to be serious. In fact, he even told reporters earlier this week that he expects to suit up for the 49ers when they take on the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday. Unfortunately, tests have revealed the true extent of the damage on his neck and now he's done for the year.
"For every step going forward, we seem to be taking another one as we're going back. That was a crushing blow and we're figuring out what we're going to do on that," Lynch said during the interview.
The 49ers are still winless after eight games this season and wins are going to be difficult to come by without Garçon on the field.
