After the San Francisco 49ers' 41-17 win over the Cincinnati Bengals, head coach Kyle Shanahan announced left tackle Joe Staley broke his fibula and will be out six to eight weeks, per ESPN's Adam Schefter. Shanahan said that Staley has dealt with the injury before; the team will not place him on the short-term injured reserve.
Staley, 35, suffered the injury on a rush from Raheem Mostert in the third quarter; the two got tangled up. The left tackle was able to get off the field before a cart came out to take him to the locker room.
Staley, a six-time Pro Bowler, has yet to play less than half a season through his 13 years of play — all for San Francisco. The last time he missed more than three games in a season was in 2010.
The 49ers gave Staley a contract extension over the 2019 offseason; giving him a total of $28 million with $12.8 million guaranteed over two years. He's been a mainstay for the 49ers offensive line through the Alex Smith to Colin Kaepernick to now Jimmy Garoppolo eras in San Francisco.
Rather than have his blindside protected from one of the NFL's best and most consistent, Garoppolo will have rookie Justin Skule blocking for him, after Shon Coleman's injury in the preseason.
Mike McGlinchey, their right tackle and a first-round pick in 2018, likely won't shift to the left side, as he's comfortable on the right.
The 49ers likely aren't interested in fixing two positions unnecessarily and, instead, are going to allow Skule to develop with the first-team.
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