49ers rookie WR DeZhaun Stribling injury timeline far worse than initially thought

The 49ers won’t have breakout rookie De’Zhaun Stribling for “close to 10 weeks.” That was the bomb that head coach Kyle Shanahan dropped during his press conference on Wednesday afternoon.Shanahan revealed the wide receiver had surgery on his ankle and provided the timeline that comes as somewhat of a surprise.It was originally reported that Stribling would miss at least a month with deltoid sprain in his ankle.He prefaced the update with the caveat that he was “not exactly sure” on the timeline, but that “we feel good that he’ll get back this season.”That is a far cry from missing a month or so.The 49ers intend to place Stribling on injured reserve, which means he is guaranteed to miss the next four games of the season.

Based on Shanahan’s remarks Wednesday, it’s evident the 49ers rookie is bound to miss a majority of the 2026 season.The 49ers have had unfortunate luck with their first-round picks in recent years.Stribling, Malik Mustapha and Ricky Pearsall have all sustained significant injuries since being selected in the first round by San Francisco in the last three NFL drafts.

The Ole Miss product has not been placed on injured reserve yet, but the move is expected within the next few days....