Getty ImagesThe season is over for 49ers receiver Kyle Williams.
Williams suffered a torn ACL in Sunday’s win at New Orleans, Adam Caplan of SiriusXM NFL Radio reports.
That’s a significant blow for the 49ers, both on offense and on special teams, where Williams splits time with Ted Ginn as both a punt and kickoff returner. The 49ers are expected to try to sign another return man to provide depth there.
A big question now is whether receiver A.J. Jenkins, this year’s first-round draft pick, will finally get on the field. Jenkins has yet to play a single snap this season amid talk that he has struggled with conditioning and with picking up the offense. If Jenkins can’t get on the field even after the 49ers lost another receiver, that would be a major sign that Jenkins has been a major disappointment.
Either way, losing Williams is a major disappointment.
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Two less fumbles in the NFC Championship game this year maybe…
As soon as I saw him get leveled I knew he had to have torn something. I mean his leg almost got removed from the rest of the body.
Major, indeed. Any unbiased observers out there who believe Vilma’s block on Williams and tackle of Hunter were malicious? Just curious where that issue stands.
is it a shock that jonathon vilma did this to him
Well who’s going to ruin their season this year????
Oh yeah, Colin Kapernick
As with most other things in life, this is Ted Ginn’s fault.
It shouldn’t effect the team..they have five #1 receivers
This team is deep theyll be fine…..
I watched AJ Jenkins in the Big 10, and I was lukewarm impressed with him… He was merely a product of their scheme (ala Tebow). When he was taken in the 1st I was shocked, he should’ve been a 3rd pick at best…..
Sorry to see he’s hurt, but he is definitely overrated.
Could well be addition by subtraction.
LaMichael James would be a great option!
Show us what you got AJ Jenkins it’s time too step up. Go 9ers!!!
I see the Saints accomplished what Greg Williams set out to do last year. Only this time it wasn’t Crabtree’s ACL… hmmm
Vilma is one of the dirtiest players in the league. The lifting of this guys suspension should only serve to tell the world that bounties are OK in the NFL.
Tough blow since he was one of their 8 number 1 recievers..
kingbeason52 says: Nov 26, 2012 4:23 PM
It shouldn’t effect the team..they have five #1 receivers
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They don’t have ONE.
Williams was having a good year and really bounced back from that tough playoff loss. This hurts but we have depth still!
Colin Kaepernick looks like the little pet from the island of dr. moreau.
Well…at least Ginn wont fumble punts.
Oh wait…
Haters… Make me laugh. Guy goes down for the year and the classy comments come out.
Dang! I wanted Kyle Williams to get sweet redemptions come playoff time for what happened last year. From what the team and owner have said, he really worked harder than anyone on the team this offseason
As a 9ers fan, I hate to see Kyle done for the year. He was having a great year and was a good #4. Hopefully Jenkins or James can step in now with the openning and get some experience for the future.
Anyone who thinks this proves Vilma is dirty is an idiot. I hate, hate the Saints, but Williams leg was already buckling before he was hit (legally) by Vilma and Hunter was rolled up on, which happens all the time and is unfortunate but not dirty. 9ers have depth and will be fine, but hope Hunter can get back soon and hope Kyle being gone helps get experience to the young guys so that when Moss and Jacobs (now he is overrated) are gone we don’t miss a beat.
A.J. Jenkins will have to step up big time because he might be the 1st disappointment in the Baalke/Hargbaugh era!
There was nothing dirty about the play. Vilma beat the block fair and square. That being said, if Goodell managed the bountygate probe right, Vilma would not have even been allowed in the building until the 2013 season.
Williams was having a nice season (for him), but he only had 14 grabs, so it’s not a big deal. The passing offense focuses on Crabtree, Vernon Davis, and Manningham.
LaMichael James should be returning kickoffs anyway.
They need to be getting more out of James and top draft pick Jenkins.
Why sign another return man when they already have LaMichael James waiting in reserve?
bigbluecrew420 says:
Well who’s going to ruin their season this year????
Oh yeah, Colin Kapernick
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I couldn’t have said it better myself. Kaep’s first real tests as QB will come in the playoffs against real teams. The Defense may not be able to prop him up then.
Well at least now he can’t fumble another kick off…..lol
I was afraid this was the case. Sucks =( He needs to call Adrian Peterson and get in on his rehab program so he can come back for next season.
Guess he can’t hurt San Fran in the NFC Championship then. If they get that far.
overall sf has been lucky with injuries……they have been the past few years
@redrifle14
Hold your fire on Jenkins until you see him play.
During 3 years of the supposed ‘bounty’ program Vilma didn’t manage to cause even one of the ‘cart-offs’ he’s become so synonymous with.
On one play Sunday he causes two cart-offs on the same play with nothing but good, clean, hard play (as has been noted by 49er fans in this thread).
Think about that for a second and tell me what it says about the notion that Vilma supposedly spent three years purposely trying to inflict injuries.
Just think about it.
Vilma’s play on Williams was clean. Twisting Hunter’s ankle after the play was not. Sad that Kyle is out, was hoping for a redemption story. Some feel this is a good time to attack Kaep. He’ll never beat the Bears, they will force him into turnovers. OK OK, but he wont handle playing in the Super Dome. OK wrong again. It’s good to see people hating, no one hates the bad teams.
Enough with bounty, this play was just bad luck. Kyle was a fluke cause you could see his knee give before contact. I knew on play he was really hurt and hunter had the roll up. Screw the haters on our draft picks cause Kyle was a productive low round pick from last year. They hated on aldon just last year. The niners have gotten lucky from injuries and able to not rush people.
LaMichael James and Jenkins should back up in the return game and Jacobs can back up Hunter. BAM! I just Harbaugh’d the situation
Hats off to the 9ers. Great game. No excuses here. Could have been much worse on us with Alex Smith in. I can’t believe I just typed that. Its true.
Jacobs could back up Gore until Hunter comes back is what I meant
sorry to hear that 49er fans. dang vilma huh?
I wouldn’t write him off as a major disappointment if he can’t excel in William’s absence. First year WR’s almost always have difficulties. Here in New Orleans if we gave up on 1st year WR’s that had issues we would have given up on pretty much our whole WR corps. All of them except for Colston had issues picking up the system and getting on the field. Devery Henderson took almost 3 years to develop. Robert Meachem was redshirted his 1st year and hardly saw the light of day year 2. The WR system is one of the hardest spots to play and learn but for whatever reason folks always fail to respect the difficulty of being a wideout at the NFL level. It takes time. It is a lot more than run and catch.
It’s a major disappointment for Giants fans, too–now he won’t be there to fumble away a trip to the Super Bowl!!
Idk why you people are being ignorant and talking about the fumbled punts last year!! 9er fans or not cut it out! That was last year!! Kyle was actually playing good as a slot and solid as backup return man.. This is a subtle big loss.. He has made huge progress this year and a few huge plays!! I got love for Kyle Williams product of San Jose!! Now it’s time for Jenkins to step up and if James is active he has to assert himself into our plans!!! Lets GO NINERS!!
Get well soon Kyle. Good character guy and a developing player.