Immediately after defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey had biceps surgery, the 49ers were unsure whether or not he’d miss the entire season.
It’s been a few weeks since the operation and the team is optimistic that they haven’t seen the last of Dorsey in 2014. Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com reports that coach Jim Harbaugh said Friday that there is a “very good chance” that Dorsey is able to return to the team before the end of the year.
Harbaugh pegged the timetable for Dorsey’s return at three-and-a-half months, which would keep him out of the lineup until the final weeks of the regular season. If the 49ers season unfolds the way the last few have, the team should be in the hunt for the playoffs and/or the NFC West at that point and a healthy return would likely be welcomed given the way injuries can pile up over the course of the season.
If that time frame is accurate, the 49ers will have to either keep Dorsey on the roster as an inactive player or place him on injured reserve with the designation to return after at least eight weeks out of the lineup.