The San Francisco 49ers saw left tackle Joe Staley forced to leave with an injury in the closing minutes of their 35-11 victory over the St. Louis Rams on Thursday night.
Staley was engaged with Rams defensive end Chris Long when running back LaMichael James and another Rams defender fell on the back of Staley’s legs. As he went down, he was bent backward over the fallen James by Long with his legs caught underneath him. Staley was audibly screaming in pain on the broadcast as he was down on the turf.
The 49ers training staff attended to him and brought out the cart for him but Staley eventually rose to his feet and walked off to the locker room with the assistance of a pair of trainers.
From Staley’s reaction to the injury, it certainly didn’t appear to be a minor issue. We’ll wait and see just how serious the injury may be.
UPDATE 12:17 a.m. ET: According to Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee, Staley walked out of the X-ray room under his own power without a limp. Head coach Jim Harbaugh said the early reports are positive on Staley’s status. “I think we’re going to dodge a bullet there.”
Staley also said he’s fine on his Twitter account.
I'm good. And I scream like no dude should ever scream lol my bad.
— Joe Staley (@jstaley74) September 27, 2013