{"id":51462,"date":"2025-04-28T01:02:25","date_gmt":"2025-04-28T01:02:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=51462"},"modified":"2025-04-28T01:02:25","modified_gmt":"2025-04-28T01:02:25","slug":"49ers-get-disappointing-update-on-key-defensive-starter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=51462","title":{"rendered":"49ers Get Disappointing Update on Key Defensive Starter"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div id=\"post-featured\">\n<div>\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/GettyImages-2177868625-e1745790480835.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 95vw, 780px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/GettyImages-2177868625-e1745790480835.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780 780w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/GettyImages-2177868625-e1745790480835.jpg?quality=15&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/GettyImages-2177868625-e1745790480835.jpg?quality=35&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1350 1350w\" alt=\"49ers Get Disappointing Update on Key Defensive Starter\" width=\"780\" height=\"439\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Getty<\/p>\n<p>49ers safety Malik Mustapha may not be ready for the start of the 2025 season after this injury update<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The San Francisco 49ers were decimated by injuries during the 2024 campaign, and they are still dealing with the after-effects of that rough season to this day. Hours after the 2025 NFL draft wrapped up, the team was dealt a concerning injury update regarding second-year safety Malik Mustapha that could result in him not being ready for the start of the upcoming season.<\/p>\n<p>A fourth-round pick in the 2024 NFL draft, Mustapha immediately earned a big role with San Francisco due to the aforementioned injury bug that plagued the team. Mustapha started 12 of the 16 games he played in, racking up 72 tackles, one interception, and five passes batted. He finished the year 14th in the Defensive Rookie of the Year voting, and with Talanoa Hufanga departing in free agency, Mustapha is set to be one of the team\u2019s starting safeties moving forward.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>49ers Dealt Worrisome Malik Mustapha Injury Update<\/h2>\n<p>In the 49ers season finale against the Arizona Cardinals, Mustapha got cleated in the second quarter of the game, resulting in his early exit. Initially, he and the team thought his injury wasn\u2019t serious, but an MRI showed that a graft previously placed in his knee to fix an ACL tear he suffered in college with the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. As a result, Mustapha underwent surgery, and while he\u2019s doing well, he is unlikely to be ready for the start of the 2025 campaign.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAccording to a source, Mustapha has been at the team facility rehabbing the knee and is \u2018doing really well,&#8217;\u201d Nick Wagoner of ESPN reported. \u201cThere is no definitive timeline on Mustapha\u2019s return but, given how late in the year the injury occurred, it\u2019s unlikely he will be ready at the start of the season with a midseason return more likely, sources said. Mustapha did, however, recover quickly from his previous ACL injury and there was no meniscus or cartilage damage in Arizona.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>49ers Already Worrying About Injuries for 2025 Campaign<\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_5276581\">\n<div>\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Kyle-Shanahan-1-e1739754704816.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=782\" alt=\"49ers Get Disappointing Update on Key Defensive Starter\" width=\"782\" height=\"440\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5276581\" data-lazy-load=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-5276581\">GettySan Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan looks on from the sideline during the first half of a preseason game against the Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Injuries were a major issue for San Francisco last season, so it\u2019s not exactly encouraging to see Mustapha is already expected to miss the start of the 2025 campaign. The 49ers obviously want him to make a full recovery from this injury, but being without one of their starters in their secondary could ultimately deal them a big blow as they look to get off on the right foot after a tough 2024 campaign.<\/p>\n<p>If Mustapha ends up being forced to miss time, Richie Grant and Jason Pinnock appear to be the early favorites to fill in for him. San Francisco also drafted Marques Sigle from the Kansas State Wildcats in the fifth round of the 2025 draft on Saturday afternoon, and he could immediately find himself with a bigger role than expected given this update on Mustapha\u2019s injury status.<\/p>\n<p>With the draft in the books, the 49ers next major event is training camp, which is set to begin on Thursday, July 25.<\/p>\n<p>Owen Crisafulli Owen Crisafulli is a Breaking News Writer at Heavy. He recently received his Masters in Business Administration from Nichols College. Previously, he obtained his Bachelor&#8217;s degree in Sport Management and for a while ran his own sports website. Sports are his passion, and he thoroughly enjoys writing about thoughts and opinions that are related to the game. He has been a lifelong fan of the major professional teams in Boston and loves discussing all topics surrounding those teams. More about Owen Crisafulli<\/p>\n<h2>More Heavy on 49ers News<\/h2>\n<p>Loading more stories<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The 49ers could be without second-year safety Malik Mustapha after it was revealed he suffered an ACL injury in the team&#8217;s 2024 season finale<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":51463,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-51462","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>49ers Get Disappointing Update on Key Defensive Starter - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=51462\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"49ers Get Disappointing Update on Key Defensive Starter - 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