Week 2: Saints @ 49ers Final Injury Report

Cornerback Phillip Adams is a game time decision to whether he plays.  If he does not play that could cause some problems for the 49ers in the return game and the secondary.  If William James does not go and Adams cannot play then the 49ers only have three true corners and you would likely see some safeties like Reggie Smith in the cornerback position.

The Adams decision also affects the return game, if he could not go then we would likely see a rotation for Delanie Walker, Dominique Zeigler, and Josh Morgan.

Injury Report:

New Orleans

Out: RB Chris Ivory (knee), OT Zach Strief (knee), LB Anthony Waters (hamstring)

Probable: LB Jonathan Vilma (groin)

San Francisco

Out: OC Eric Heitmann (fibula)

Doubtful: WR Ted Ginn (knee), CB William James (ankle), WR Kyle Williams (ankle), OG Chilo Rachal (stinger)

Questionable: CB Phillip Adams (hamstring)

Probable: LB Patrick Willis (knee, thumb), LB Ahmad Brooks (elbow), OG Adam Snyder (illness), OT Alex Boone (calf)

Week 2: Saints @ 49ers Friday Injury Report

Very interesting that CB Phillip Adams was added onto the injury report.  Hopefully, his hamstring does not get worse before the Monday night game.  There is no way the 49ers can afford for him to not play especially with all those 4 WR sets that the Saints roll out.


Injury Report:

New Orleans
Did Not Participate: RB Chris Ivory (knee), OT Zach Strief (knee), LB Anthony Waters (hamstring)
Full Participation: LB Jonathan Vilma (groin)

San Francisco
Out: OC Eric Heitmann (fibula)
Did Not Participate: WR Ted Ginn (knee), CB William James (ankle), OG Chilo Rachal (stinger), TE Delanie Walker (personal reasons)
Limited Participation: WR Kyle Williams (ankle), LB Patrick Willis (knee, thumb), CB Phillip Adams (hamstring), LB Ahmad Brooks (elbow)
Full Participation: OG Adam Snyder (illness), OT Alex Boone (calf)

Ted Ginn Jr. named starting punt returner

Yesterday, Mike Singletary announced that Ted Ginn Jr. was going to be the teams primary punt returner against the Seahawks.  This is not exactly what everyone thought was going to happen once the season started.  During the preseason Singletary said that he wanted Ginn to focus on being a wide receiver and just doing kickoff returns and was looking for someone else to be their punt returner.

It appeared that wide receiver Kyle Williams was on his way for that role before he was injured in the first preseason game.  Then cornerback Phillip Adams had looked good in that role and it appeared he was going to be the 49ers punt returner going into the first game. 

Singletary stated that he spoke with special teams coordinator and they just felt more comfortable with Ginn back there returning punts.  He left it open for Adams to possibly still return punts.

During the offseason the 49ers traded with the Miami Dolphins for Ted Ginn Jr. in order to shore up the punt and kick return game that had been atrocious last year for the 49ers.  Ginn has a lot of experience returning punts and kicks when he was at Ohio State and then later when he was with the Dolphins.  During three years with the Dolphins, Ginn returned 147 kickoffs with an average of 23 yards/return and scored two touchdowns and has returned 36 punts for an average of 8.7/return with one touchdown.

In 2009, the 49ers averaged 4.4 yards/return on the punt returns which put that in last place in the NFL and on kickoff returns they averaged 21.8 yards/return which was 23rd in the NFL.