Kwon Alexander suffered a season-ending ACL injury during Week 7 of the 2018 season. That's four weeks later than quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo's ACL injury and seven weeks after running back Jerick McKinnon's.
The San Francisco 49ers are hopeful that Garoppolo and McKinnon can start Week 1 of the regular season. They aren't concerned if that isn't the case for Alexander, who signed a four-year deal on March 13 worth up to $54 million. That's because the 49ers view him as a long-term investment and won't force him into action before he is ready.
However, if he is ready, the team will gladly line him up next to second-year starter Fred Warner.
"We're not going to force him if he's not ready to play Week 1," 49ers CEO Jed York said via Jennifer Lee Chan of NBC Sports Bay Area. "That was a big conversation that we had. This is a guy that we want to be here for a long period of time. We're not going to force him to be ready. Every indication is that he will be ready."
The 49ers have dealt with an excessive number of injuries over the past two years, which have impacted the two seasons since head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch were brought in to overhaul the roster. San Francisco has not taken part in postseason action since the 2013 season under Jim Harbaugh.
Because he is a rehabbing player, Alexander has been at the 49ers facilities every day working with the recently restructured training and medical staff, which is now officially called the "Health and Performance" department.
"We knew he was coming off an ACL injury, so there was some risk in that," Lynch said via a KNBR interview last week. "But ultimately, we're making this as a long-term decision, and Kwon was a guy we felt fit best with what we do as a defensive scheme. So we put all of our energy and focus on trying to secure Kwon, and we were able to. We're excited. I know Kwon's excited."
As for Garoppolo and McKinnon, Shanahan remains hopeful that both will be medically cleared for training camp and even wants to get them into some preseason action.
"If their bodies can (play in preseason), I think that's a good thing for them," Shanahan recently told Adam Schefter of ESPN. "They want to test it out. I feel like that's more of a mental thing. If your body can take it and the doctors say it, and they feel confident with it, I think it's good to go out in a real-game situation and get that confidence because we're not going to let someone tackle [Garoppolo] in practice."
Jason Verrett is another player signed by the 49ers who is coming off of an injury. He tore his Achilles tendon on the first day of training camp with the Los Angeles Chargers last year and missed the entirety of the season. It was Verrett's third-straight season landing on injured reserve.
"That's part of the deal in free agency," York said. "There's very few perfect guys in free agency and the perfect deal. It's not a buyer's market, so you have to take some risk, and I think we got unbelievably character-driven people and great football players and it might take all of them a little bit of time to get ready to get out there and play, but we aren't playing for August or September."
