DeMeco Ryans Reflects on Moseley Injury; Keys to Stopping Atlanta Thursday

Thursday’s weekly presser for 49ers defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans started off on a somber note, discussing the loss of cornerback Emmanuel Moseley and how that has impacted the team leading up to Week 6.

Moseley, 26, suffered a torn ACL in the closing minutes of Week 5’s win over the Carolina Panthers. Going up for a pass breakup on a deep ball, “E-Man” landed awkwardly on the turf before clutching his knee in agony on the ground. The cornerback was able to walk off the field with the help of trainers, noticeably limping along the sideline afterward. An MRI confirmed the diagnosis Monday, ending his 2022 season after five games.

Ryans reflected on the injury Thursday, stating that he’ll be hard to replace moving forward.

“It’s just tough to see Moseley go down. Just all the things he’s battled through and the type of training camp, the season he was having. I was just fired up for him to just have a complete year and he did a lot of great things for us so that’s tough to replace,” Ryans said. “He’s just such a great teammate, great person, great player for us, and we’re truly gonna miss him.”

DeMeco Ryans’ reaction to the pick-six 😂 pic.twitter.com/t3VPT8e8yN

— 49ers on NBCS (@NBCS49ers) October 9, 2022

Thankfully the 49ers have some insurance on the way as fellow CB Jason Verrett (knee) has been practicing fully the last week. Coming off an ACL tear in Week 1 last season, Ryans didn’t commit to the former pro-bowler playing this week, instead insuring The Faithful that the coaching staff is taking the right precautions with the 33-year-old cornerback.

“Yeah, we opened Jason’s [activation] window. So Jason is still working through, so we’ll give him that window to see you know how he comes through on that,” Ryans said. “So we still taking our time with him and when the time is right, we’ll have him.”

Verrett has a 21-day window to be activated off the PUP list. If he is not activated by Week 8, he’ll be out for the rest of the season.

Regardless of who suits up in Week 6 against Atlanta, the defense has each other’s backs, looking to get this one for their injured brother Sunday.

“The thing about our team and the guys we have is, nobody flinches,” Ryans stated. “Everybody has E-Man’s back and we’re gonna strap it up and be ready to go for him and everybody’s gonna go out and compete at their best to get this win for E-Man.”

One of the keys Sunday against the Falcons will be stopping the run as Atlanta uses the run game at the second-highest clip this season, according to NFL metrics. And with several key defensive linemen possibly out (Arik Armstead, Nick Bosa, Javon Kinlaw), the coaching staff knows it’ll be a challenge this week.

Atlanta is the second most run-heavy team in the NFL by this metric, behind only Chicago.

49ers DC DeMeco Ryans: "They run the ball and they don't try to hide it. They try to play smash-mouth football." https://t.co/lGNcueIX2j

— David Lombardi (@LombardiHimself) October 13, 2022

“One thing about the Falcons is they’re physical and they finish,” Ryans explained. “They run the ball and they don’t try to hide it. They’re not disguising it. They want to run the ball. They want to play smash-mouth football and they’ve done a great job this year of sticking to the run…Top three in the league at running the football so you know we have our hands full when it comes to stopping the run this week.”

To listen to DeMeco Ryans full presser, click here.

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