NEW ORLEANS -- Already without starting quarterback Brock Purdy and tight end George Kittle, the San Francisco 49ers will play the rest of Sunday’s game against the New Orleans Saints without fullback Kyle Juszczyk.
Juszczyk suffered a concussion in the second quarter and was quickly ruled out for the rest of the game. It’s unclear when or how Juszczyk suffered the concussion, but he spent more than five minutes in the blue medical tent before heading to San Francisco’s locker room.
Kittle (hamstring) landed on injured reserve earlier this week while Purdy was ruled out Friday because of toe and left shoulder injuries. Left tackle Trent Williams (knee) and wide receiver Jauan Jennings (shoulder) were listed as questionable after missing a couple of practices this week, but both started against the Saints.
With Juszczyk out, the Niners will lean on tight ends Jake Tonges, Luke Farrell and Brayden Willis to help fill the void.
Coach Kyle Shanahan said last week that tight end and fullback have become essentially interchangeable in San Francisco’s offense.
“It’s always been pretty blurred,” Shanahan said. “They’re almost the same thing. Just somewhat very small, different skill sets ... We ask all of our tight ends to do what the fullback does too, in case we lose Juice in a game. So both of them, there’s a lot of carryover.”
Starting left guard Ben Bartch also departed with an ankle injury with rookie Connor Colby replacing him.
