The 49ers suffered a serious blow to their secondary late in Sunday’s win over the Steelers when cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon exited with a foot injury and did not return.
He’s been playing the best football of his career and is partially responsible for the dramatic turnaround by the 49ers’ defense. His absence was quickly met by a two-play, 81-yard drive where Witherspoon’s replacement, Jason Verrett was beat twice, including once for a 38-yard touchdown.
ESPN’s Nick Wagoner spoke to Witherspoon in the locker room after the game and the third-year cornerback expressed optimism that his foot injury isn’t serious.
If Witherspoon did avoid a serious injury, he may not even miss a game with the 49ers set to have a bye week in Week 4. They don’t play again until Oct. 7 on Monday night against the Browns at Levi’s Stadium. So Witherspoon will have an extra week and an extra day, plus he won’t need to travel.
There weren’t any other injuries coming out of the game according to head coach Kyle Shanahan.
We’ll keep a close eye on Witherspoon’s status through the bye week. San Francisco needs him healthy if they’re going to have the best version of their defense heading into a rough stretch of their schedule against the Browns and Rams in back-to-back weeks out of the bye.
