SANTA CLARA — Mike Evans pulled up on his third-down route, took a knee after the play and appeared to be in so much pain he had trouble making it back to the sidelines. It was later revealed to be a rib injury for the future Hall of Fame receiver.
Just like that, the San Francisco 49ers lost yet another wide receiver to injury.
Evans, 33, needed to be carted to the locker room after coming off the field on the 49ers’ final drive before halftime in their game Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals.
He has since been ruled out for the rest of the game.
Evans missed practice this week and was listed as questionable with a hip pointer that forced him out of last week’s win over the Dolphins in the fourth quarter.
However, it appeared that a different issue forced Evans from their game against Arizona.
He was grabbing at the right side of his midsection as he gingerly made his way back to the sideline under the watch of three San Francisco trainers. As soon as he got off the field of play, Evans went back on one knee, put his head in his hands and was in visible discomfort.
Although Purdy threw into traffic targeting Evans on the third-down pass, he didn’t come into contact with any defenders on the play and went to a knee as soon as it was blown dead.
Evans had three catches on six targets for 34 yards, including one of Brock Purdy’s two first-half touchdown passes, before leaving with 1:30 remaining until intermission.
Purdy threw for 204 yards on 8-of-17 passing in the first half as the 49ers raced out to a 17-6 advantage going into halftime.
The 49ers also lost cornerback Deommodore Lenoir earlier in the second quarter. He was carted to the locker room, where he was being evaluated for a concussion.
Just three weeks into the season, Evans would be the fourth top receiver the 49ers have lost already.
Ricky Pearsall is out for the season after undergoing PCL surgery in training camp, De’Zhaun Stribling is out until about Week 10 with an ankle injury he suffered in Week 1 and Demarcus Robinson was placed on injured reserve this week with a high ankle sprain he suffered last week against Miami.
The 49ers had suffered so much attrition at the position that they brought in Brandin Cooks as a free agent last week, though the veteran receiver remains on their practice squad.
