49ers lose 2 key offensive pieces to injury during Browns game

The San Francisco 49ers have a claim as the hottest team in football. Winning three straight games and climbing to 9-4 on the season, the 49ers are ready to enter the bye week on a high note. Coming off a 26-8 victory over the Cleveland Browns, San Francisco potentially had one of the best Week 13’s of any team in the NFL. The 49ers gained a game in the NFC West race thanks to a Los Angeles Rams loss to the Carolina Panthers. They now firmly hold a two-game lead for the seventh-seed in the Wild Card hunt, and climbed a half game out of the division lead.

Despite the celebratory victory, it’s not all butterflies and rainbows for the red and gold as the injury bug has struck again. This time, taking out two key offensive players. 

According to head coach Kyle Shanahan, fullback Kyle Juszczyk suffered fractured ribs and will be evaluated after the bye week. Meanwhile, starting left guard Ben Bartch will be placed on injured reserve and miss the remainder of the season due to an ankle sprain, via The Athletic’s Matt Barrows.

Being without Juszczyk is the more detrimental loss for San Francisco, as “Juice” is their offensive Swiss-army knife. He operates as a fullback, tight end, and sometimes an underrated receiving threat. He opens up lanes for Christian McCaffrey while providing another set of eyes for quarterback Brock Purdy. The team did rule him out, which has to be some good news for a team also depleted by injury. 

Bartch has only played in six games this season due to a previous ankle injury suffered in Week 2. In his absence, the 49ers will turn to Spencer Burford, who has already been rotating in at right guard, primarily on passing downs.

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