Three of their five wide receivers left the game at some point with injuries.
San Francisco has Ricky Pearsall, De'Zhaun Stribling, Demarcus Robinson and Christian Kirk on injured reserve. KhaDarel Hodge ranked fifth among the team's wide receivers in snaps this season, but he was recently released after suffering an injury. Mike Evans is their top receiver, but he was either limited in practice or unable to practice throughout the week due to a rib injury. That left the team with Deebo Samuel Sr. , Jacob Cowing, Jordan Watkins and recently signed Brandin Cooks as their healthy receivers. Evans played 84% of 11 personnel snaps in this game but was in a rotational role in 12 personnel. He briefly left the game with what looked like a neck injury late in the first half, but returned before halftime and finished the game. In the first half, Samuel and Cowing joined him in 11 personnel, while Watkins and Samuel were the primary receivers in 12 personnel. Samuel suffered a hamstring injury in the third quarter and wasn't able to return, while Cowing suffered a knee injury but was able to return. In the fourth quarter, Cooks led the 49ers' wide receiver room in snaps, playing 14 of 19, including running a route on 10 of 11 passing plays. He also scored a touchdown. While Evans dominated the box score with seven receptions for 113 yards and a touchdown, it's still worth adding Cooks off the waiver wire. Given Evans' injuries, he could miss time sooner rather than later, which could make Cooks the top wide receiver on the depth chart, at least until some of these receivers are able to return.