San Francisco 49ers rookie wide receiver De’Zhaun Stribling was carted off the field in the second quarter of Thursday’s 27-7 win over the Los Angeles Rams in Melbourne, Australia, after suffering a left ankle injury on a non-contact play. Hours later, the news turned less dire than it first appeared: initial testing showed his Achilles is intact, per James Palmer of The Athletic, sparing San Francisco’s top draft investment from a worst-case scenario in Week 1.
Stribling, the 49ers’ second-round pick and No. 33 overall selection in this year’s draft, was making his regular-season debut nearly 7,900 miles from home. He had already tweaked the same ankle late in the first quarter, was labeled questionable to return, then came back onto the field only to go down again on the third play of a second-quarter drive while running an intermediate route. He put no weight on the leg as trainers helped him to the blue medical tent before he was carted to the locker room and officially ruled out.
What Happened to Stribling on the Field
Head coach Kyle Shanahan addressed the injury after the game, delivering the news 49ers fans were waiting on. “They checked his Achilles. They said that was intact,” Shanahan said. “But they’re not exactly sure of the magnitude of the ankle injury. They’re not sure.” Shanahan added further detail on the diagnosis in progress, saying, “It wasn’t good. It’s not an ACL. It’s MCL I believe, but there’s some issues with it that we got to see how it is. There’s a little more information to it, but we don’t know yet.” The team will have a clearer picture once further testing is completed back in the Bay Area, with San Francisco holding 10 days before its Week 2 matchup against the Miami Dolphins.
Stribling wasn’t the only banged-up pass catcher to exit the game. Tight end Jake Tonges also went down in the second quarter after appearing to injure his knee while blocking, and he too was carted to the locker room and ruled out for the remainder of the contest. Shanahan later said Tonges’ knee injury “does not look good,” raising the possibility of an extended absence. With Tonges sidelined, San Francisco leaned on George Kittle and Luke Farrell at tight end. On the outside, the 49ers’ receiver corps without Stribling now runs through Mike Evans, Deebo Samuel, Demarcus Robinson, Jacob Cowing and KhaDarel Hodge for as long as the rookie is out.
What It Means for 49ers Betting Markets
San Francisco entered the season with Super Bowl odds hovering in the +1700 to +1900 range depending on the sportsbook, and NFC West odds sitting around +300 to +325 behind the Los Angeles Rams as the division favorites. The 49ers’ win total for the year was pegged at 9.5, with the market leaning toward the under even before kickoff in Australia. A 27-7 road win over a division rival is the kind of result that would typically nudge futures pricing in San Francisco’s favor, but the double hit to the receiving corps — losing a projected key rotational piece in Stribling and a starting-caliber tight end in Tonges on the same night — complicates that read for oddsmakers processing Week 2 lines against Miami.
Depth at the offensive skill positions has been a swing factor in how sportsbooks price the 49ers all year, given the injury history at wide receiver and tight end in recent seasons. If Stribling’s ankle sidelines him for multiple weeks, expect the market to lean even more heavily on the proven trio of Evans, Samuel and Kittle to carry San Francisco’s passing production, which could show up in adjusted player prop lines and total-based markets for the Dolphins matchup once official injury designations are set later in the week. For now, the Week 1 result keeps San Francisco’s season-long numbers on track, but the health of its receiving room is quickly becoming the storyline that could define how those futures move over the next several weeks.
