Ex-$57.4 Million Defender Reports Major Shakeup to 49ers’ Starting Lineup

Getty Javon Kinlaw and Richard Sherman celebrating for the San Francisco 49ers.

The San Francisco 49ers are riding high; they’ve won seven straight games dating back to before their Bye, haven’t missed a beat despite losing multiple players to injuries of varying lengths, and stumbled across a quarterback with the final pick in the 2022 NFL draft who has already earned comparisons to Joe Montana from a linebacker who played with him in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

And now, according to former 49ers cornerback and future NFL Hall of Famer, Richard Sherman, the team is going to have their 2020 first-round pick, Javon Kinlaw, back on the field in Week 16 too, as he mentioned on “The Richard Sherman Podcast,” as per NBC Sports Bay Area.

“There are no teams hotter than the San Francisco 49ers right now, and from what I understand talking to the 49ers players and staff is that Javon Kinlaw is expected back next week,” Sherman said.

“So, the rich get richer and richer and richer,” Sherman said. “… And guess what? Deebo’s going to come back before the playoffs, and that’s not the team they want to play.”

Though the team hasn’t officially opened Kinlaw’s practice window just yet, Kyle Shanahan expects that to happen this week and get Arik Armstead‘s former partner in crime back before the regular season finale.

Kyle Shanahan Also Expects Javon Kinlaw Back Soon

Speaking with reporters on Monday, December 12th ahead of the Seattle Seahawks game, Shanahan detailed the Niners’ plans for Kinlaw moving forward.

“Our goal was after the Seattle game to hopefully get him back in practice,” Shanahan said h/t NBC Sports Bay Area. “That was our goal with it. We will finish this game up and see how it is when we come out on Monday to see if we will open his window or not.”

As of Monday night, Kinlaw’s window has yet to be opened, but the 49ers will have to make some decisions on the injury statuses of a few other defensive linemen, including the starters who filled in for Kinlaw and Armstead when they were both absent, Hassan Ridgeway and Kevin Givens.

“It was a tough game, losing Ridgeway last week, and then Kevin going down early,” Shanahan said. “I feel optimistic about Kerry just talking to him after the game. I believe if the score was different, he would have been able to go back in, so I do think that is a good sign.”

“But I expect Kevin to be a little bit. Hoping it’s just an MCL, but obviously, we got to wait and see.”

Hassan Ridgeway’s Season With The San Francisco 49ers Is Over

As of Monday night, the 49ers haven’t made a decision one way or the other on the statuses of Givens or defensive end Kerry Hyder, the same can not be said for Ridgeway, who has officially been placed on IR with a pec injury. While the team could theoretically bring him back, as they currently have two IR activations left of their initial eight, players like Kinlaw and Week 1 starting running back Elijah Mitchell are expected to take priority over a tackle who is at best third on the depth chart when the team is fully healthy.

A fourth-round pick out of Texas, San Francisco is Ridgeway’s third stop in the NFL, after initially playing for the Indianapolis Colts and then for the Philadelphia Eagles. After signing a one-year, $1.8 million contract in free agency, Ridgeway going to be an unrestricted free agent in 2023 but could return on a new contract following a season that saw the collegiate Longhorn pick up a career-high 28 tackles over just 12 games.