The 49ers’ defense has encountered another notable injury. Defensive end Yetur Gross-Matos was placed on injured reserve Saturday, per a team announcement.
A knee injury will keep the free-agent pickup sidelined for at least the next four games. Gross-Matos was inactive for the season opener, but he handled a regular defensive workload during each of the following three games. His absence will compound the injuries San Francisco is already dealing with in the front seven in particular.
Defensive tackle Javon Hargrave is likely out for the remainder of the season due to a partial triceps tear. Along the edge, 2022 second-rounder Drake Jackson was shut down for 2024 back in August, after he was unable to recover from the knee injury which limited him to eight games last year. Jackson’s absence paved the way for Leonard Floyd and Gross-Matos to handle a notable workload in their respective debut 49ers campaigns.
The latter began his career in Carolina. He played out his rookie contract while spending time as both a base end and a stand-up outside linebacker. Gross-Matos served as a full-time starter in 2022 and his 4.5 sacks that year marked a career high. He inked a two-year, $18M pact in free agency in a bid to return to a permanent starting role. The former second-rounder logged a 46% snap share without recording a sack in his first three San Francisco contests. It will be several weeks until he returns to action and has the opportunity to make more of a statistical impact.
In the meantime, Floyd will continue handle starting duties alongside Nick Bosa on the edge. Floyd also signed a two-year pact during the spring and the 32-year-old came to the Bay Area with high expectations after logging at least nine sacks in each of the past four seasons. He has only registered one so far, but with Jackson and now Gross-Matos out of the picture the Bosa-Floyd tandem will be leaned on heavily in the pass-rush department. Notable production from those two would help the 49ers overcome at least some of their injury problems as they look to improve from a 2-2 start.