It suddenly could be easier for the 49ers to divvy up tailback carries, but that’s a very thin silver lining in the dark cloud currently hovering over contract-year backup Kendall Hunter.
Hunter, a largely forgotten 49ers favorite amid the arrivals of Marcus Lattimore and Carlos Hyde in the last two drafts, suffered a leg injury during practice on Friday. The specific nature and extent of the injury isn’t known, but Ed Werder of ESPN reports that the team is “concerned.”
Per Werder, Hunter went down awkwardly in a non-contact session. The team “didn’t like the way it looked,” and now time and testing will test whether Hunter will be gone for a little while or a long time.
Lattimore remains on the Physically Unable to Perform list, which means that Hyde could get plenty of opportunities to show that he can do what Hunter does, which includes a 4.6-yards-per-carry average and a thorough and complete understanding of the team’s pass protections and his role in them.