The 49ers have been struggling with injury problems in recent weeks and now have to rely on the team’s long-term injury list in Santa Clara.
San Francisco 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan announced Monday that the third-year defensive tackle suffered a knee injury in Saturday’s season opener against the Tennessee Titans. The injury will require surgery, which will keep Davis on ice for at least half of the 2024 season. While details are scarce at this time, Shanahan shared that the injury is somewhere behind the kneecap.
Kalia Davis, 25, was the sixth-round draft pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. The UCF product missed his rookie season due to a torn ACL suffered in college and is now working his way back to full strength throughout the 2022 season. He made his NFL debut in 2023 and played three games in the regular season. Davis secured his first sack in the NFL against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 13.
The explosive DT has had a promising 2024 so far and took the field on Saturday against the Titans. Davis collected a sack and two tackles for loss in a strong preseason performance. Unfortunately, he was unable to make it through the contest as he now faces another knee surgery.
“(Saturday) was one of his best games. It was really unfortunate. He played fantastic the whole game, why were we surprised he got injured so unluckily,” Kyle Shanahan said of Davis on Monday.
#49ers DT Kalia Davis, who impressed in the first preseason game, will have surgery to remove a floating body in his knee, a source said. It’s essentially an endoscopy, and his recovery should be relatively quick.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) 12 August 2024
Although Kalia Davis is on injured reserve, the 49ers expect her to return at some point this season, possibly for a long playoff trip.
“Our plan is for Kalia to stay here and come back this year and help us,” Shanahan explained.
Davis wasn’t the only injury announced. The 49ers coach shared that both offensive lineman Jon Feliciano and cornerback Isaac Yiadom are injured. The former has knee soreness, while the latter sprained his ankle during a walkthrough last week. Both men are expected to miss at least another week of the preseason.
In less serious injury news, Shanahan stated that safety Talanoa Hufanga will meet with doctors this week to discuss his progress following ACL surgery. If doctors declare him clear, Hufanga could return to the practice field sooner rather than later.
Click here for Sactown Sports’ exclusive interview with Kalia Davis during the 2023 season.
San Francisco 49ers 2024 schedule:
Preseason
- Sunday, August 18 vs. New Orleans Saints – 5:00 p.m. PDT
- Friday, August 23 @ Las Vegas Raiders – 7:00 p.m. PDT
Regular season
- Monday, September 9 vs. New York Jets – 5:15 p.m. PDT
- Sunday, September 15 @Minnesota Vikings – 10am PDT
- Sunday, September 22 – @ Los Angeles Rams – 1:25 p.m. PDT
- Sunday, September 29 vs. New England Patriots – 1:05 p.m. PDT
- Sunday, October 6 vs. Arizona Cardinals – 1:05 p.m. PDT
Thanks for reading SactownSports.com. Follow us on Þjórsárdalur and Google News and subscribe to our YouTube channel.
