The 49ers lose another defensive tackle to injury with C.J. West going on IR

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — The San Francisco 49ers lost another key contributor Wednesday when they placed defensive tackle C.J. West on injured reserve with a knee injury.

West started the first two games of the season after Alfred Collins went down with a season-ending knee injury just before the opener. But now West is out and will need surgery because of bone chips in his knee. Niners coach Kyle Shanahan said he expects West will be able to return later this season.

San Francisco is also without defensive tackle James Thompson Jr., who left last week’s game with a high ankle sprain that will sideline him for multiple weeks and could lead to a stint on injured reserve as well.

“Anytime you have five D-tackles make a team and you’re down to two of them after two games, that’s always a concern for anybody,” Shanahan said.

The 49ers have had several areas of concern when it comes to injuries, with the team also down three of its top receivers. Projected starter Ricky Pearsall underwent season-ending knee surgery early in training camp, rookie De’Zhaun Stribling had ankle surgery after Week 1 and is expected to be on injured reserve for about two months, and Demarcus Robinson suffered a high ankle sprain last week that could require an IR stint.

The Niners have several other players already on injured reserve who are expected to get back healthy this season, including receiver Christian Kirk (calf), cornerback Nate Hobbs (groin), offensive lineman Austen Pleasants (knee), defensive lineman Sam Okuayinonu (foot) and linebacker Nick Martin (hamstring).

If Robinson and Thompson go on injured reserve, the 49ers would have nine players on that list who have a chance to return this season — but they can only activate eight in the regular season. San Francisco would get two more activations in the playoffs if the team made it that far.

“That’s why it’s not simple just to put everybody on IR return because then eventually you’re not going to get one back,” Shanahan said. “We’re going to run out of them eventually, so that’s what we’re trying to balance out, see how those guys are this week. Most likely they’ll go on IR, but we’re still balancing it out because we’ve got to make decisions with that that I’m not totally in right now. But yeah, it’s complicated and we’ve got to guess.”

While the 49ers are off to a 2-0 start with back-to-back wins by at least 20 points, there are still some areas for concern — with their run defense near the top of the list. San Francisco has struggled to stop the run in the first half of both games when they were still close.

Niners linebacker Fred Warner said the defense is still adjusting to new coordinator Raheem Morris’ schemes and believes there will be improvement in the coming weeks.

“It’s something that will continue to get better as we go on,” Warner said. “I’m not sitting here saying that I’m complacent. Selfishly, I want us to be dominant in all areas, especially in the run game.”

The 49ers added help on the defensive line by signing Naquan Jones off the Minnesota Vikings’ practice squad to the active roster and Viliami Fehoko Jr. to the practice squad.

San Francisco also signed veteran receiver Brandin Cooks to the practice squad and released cornerback Jakob Robinson to make room. The Niners needed Cooks after Stribling and Robinson got hurt in the first two games.

Cooks, who turns 33 on Friday, spent last season with New Orleans and Buffalo, making 24 catches for 279 yards in 15 games. He became a free agent in March and hadn’t signed with any team before joining the 49ers, where he will get to play for Shanahan.

“I’ve always thought the world of Coach Shanahan and just his offensive mind,” Cooks said. ”His ability and what he does as an offensive play-caller, I’ve always been fond of, even from afar.”

Cooks has 734 career catches for 9,811 yards and 60 touchdowns. He needs 189 yards to become the sixth active player with at least 10,000 yards receiving.

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