49ers Drake Jackson placed on IR, OUT for 2024 season

Aug 9, 2024, 11:08 AM

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA - OCTOBER 09: Drake Jackson #95 of the San Francisco 49ers celebrates a play in the fourth quarter against the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium on October 09, 2022 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Eakin Howard/Getty Images)

(Photo by Eakin Howard/Getty Images)

BY AMILIANO FRAGOSO

San Francisco 49ers Beat Writer

The 49ers have been known to have injury woes to kick off each season, with Drake Jackson the latest to be shelved.

The San Francisco 49ers announced Thursday that they would be placing the defensive end on the reserve/physically-unable-to-perform list ahead of the team’s preseason opener. This move effectively ending the player’s 2024 campaign before it even started. While the team had hoped he could return at some point this year, SF instead puts him on ice to open up a roster spot.

ESPN’s Field Yates was first with the news, as the 49ers announced it thereafter.

Drake Jackson was hurt last season and underwent knee surgery in January. That means he’d entered training camp on PUP, and he’s now moved to a more permanent injury list — this opens one of two needed roster spots for the 49ers https://t.co/N0RzQb3yjm

— David Lombardi (@LombardiHimself) August 8, 2024

Drake Jackson, 23, has been recovering from patellar tendon surgery since January, hoping to make a full recovery in time for training camp. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen, now looking at an extended absence to return to the gridiron. The USC product has been out of action since Week 8 of the 2023 regular season with the knee injury.

“Anytime you do that type of surgery that he had, I think [former 49ers OL Mike] McGlinchey had a similar one, those are big surgeries,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said about Jackson’s surgery recently. “They’re tough to come back from and you never know how they’re gonna react. We always know it’s a possibility to take a long time and it’s taking a long time.”

Entering Year 3 in the NFL, Jackson has six career sacks, 21 combined tackles and nine pass break-ups in 23 career games. He also has an interception to his name from 2022. Many of the 49ers faithful were excited by his start to last season, racking up three sacks Week 1 against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Since then, the pass rusher has struggled to stay on the field, with both injury and consistency concerns rearing their ugly head.

While the 2022 second-round draft pick will look to rebound in 2025, he’ll have another uphill climb to overcome if he wants to make a real splash with the 49ers.

#49ers 2022 draft class:
2nd round: Drake Jackson, season ending PUP
3rd: Ty Davis-Price, off roster
3rd: Danny Gray, 1 career catch
4th: Spencer Burford, battling Dominick Puni for starting job
5th: Samuel Womack, 70 defensive snaps in 2023
6th: Nick Zakelj, 12 career offensive…

— Josh Dubow (@JoshDubowAP) August 8, 2024

In a corresponding roster move, the 49ers signed safety Tracy Walker III to a one-year deal. Reports also indicate that the Red & Gold are bringing in DE Jonathan Garvin to fill Jackson’s spot.