The San Francisco 49ers should rest Mike Evans and Nick Bosa against the Atlanta Falcons to avoid risking further injuries.
It's almost Week 7 and San Francisco is 6-0 for the season. A perfect start to the season. But now it's time to think smartly about two key players who could feature against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday.
Firstly, Evans is now dealing with Achilles tendinitis, with previous reports suggesting the issue will trouble him throughout the season. He's played in every game so far, despite dealing with rib issues and, more recently, Achilles soreness over the past three weeks. Yet he's continued to perform at an incredibly high level, and the 49ers are undoubtedly a stronger team with him on the field.
But now it's time to rest him. The bye week is coming anyways, but general manager John Lynch isn't exactly sure whether he will play.
"I wouldn't say 'not likely.' I think it's still TBD," Lynch said on his usual weekly appearance on Bay Area radio station KNBR. "We've got a couple of more days. We're going to take every bit of those to try to ascertain where Mike's at. He's done a really good job treating this thing, and obviously, we know of Mike's toughness.
"So, we'll let these next couple of days play out and make a decision when we have to. Mike's that type of player that you wait, you let the process play itself out, and we'll see where we're at at the end of the week. Not fun—just kind of nagging," Lynch said of it. "And so, we're doing our best to kind of alleviate that from Mike so he can go play the fantastic football he has."
In addition to Evans, Bosa could make a return for the first time since Week 2 after calf troubles. He didn't practice on Wednesday, but he may practice on Thursday ahead of the game. But even then, he should still miss the game.
"He's kind of in that same Mike Evans bucket where we will kind of evaluate Nick here in the next couple of days, and I'm sure [head coach] Kyle [Shanahan] will have something for you on Friday while we're leaving for Atlanta," shared Lynch.
In short, the bye week comes at a convenient time, so the 49ers should make the most of it by resting both players, even if they're cleared to play. Atlanta aren't the strongest opponents and San Francisco should be capable of winning regardless.
Even if that means accepting a worst-case 6–1 record, having Bosa and Evans as healthy as possible heading into the bye is a bigger victory in the long run than risking further injuries for the sake of one game.
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