San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch joined KNBR on Thursday night and delivered some unexpected news. Wide receiver Pierre Garçon will miss the remainder of the season with a neck injury.
Garçon, who has not practiced with the 49ers this week, underwent tests on Wednesday night that revealed a non-displaced fracture of the C5 pedicle in his neck. The injury is expected to keep him out at least eight weeks, which would make him unavailable for the remainder of the season. Garçon sustained the injury on Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles.
"We got some tough news," said Lynch on the "Tolbert & Lund" show. "I'll break some news for you here that's not good news for us. Last night, we found out that, unfortunately, Pierre Garçon's going to be put on injured reserve. He injured his neck in the game on that sideline incident and, early in the week, we did all the imaging. It came back clean. He wasn't responding, and it's the neck area.
"Pierre's one of these guys who's always going to tell you it's alright. He told the media he was playing. We had him as questionable because all the imaging we did checked out clean. But our medical staff just felt like something wasn't right, and they sent him for more testing on Wednesday, and unfortunately last night, we found out that he has ... let me read this because I'm not a doctor ... a non-displaced fracture of the right C5 pedicle.
"So it's an eight-week injury. They have to immobilize it. Unfortunately, a guy who's been one of our, if not our best, players this season is out."
Garçon was acquired via free agency in March after signing a five-year, $47 million contract and will become the 49ers' 16th player on injured reserve. However, San Francisco is hopeful that defensive linemen Ronald Blaire and Arik Armstead, who are both on injured reserve, can return to action. Blair, who has already been practicing with the team, is eligible to play on Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals.
The loss of Garçon is a big blow for the 49ers offense. The veteran receiver has proven to be the team's most reliable receiver. Through eight games, Garçon leads the 49ers with 40 receptions for 500 yards. That reliability will be missed this week by rookie quarterback C.J. Beathard and could have been an asset for newly acquired quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo. Garçon joined the 49ers with experience playing within head coach Kyle Shanahan's offense. Garoppolo would have significantly benefitted from working with Garçon during practices.
Garçon, a 10-year veteran, spent his previous five seasons with the Washington Redskins and the four before that with the Indianapolis Colts. He was on pace for his third career 1,000-yard season. Until this year, Garçon had never played in fewer than 10 games in a season over his career.
You can listen to the entire interview with Lynch below.