Photo by Chris Mezzavilla/KNBR
SANTA CLARA–The 49ers’ defense suffered a devastating blow during the first quarter of Sunday afternoon’s season-opening contest against the Carolina Panthers when rookie linebacker Reuben Foster was forced to exit the game with what appeared to be a right ankle injury.
Foster, the 31st overall selection in the 2017 NFL Draft, began the season as the 49ers’ starting weakside linebacker, and showed tremendous promise during the preseason. But late in the first quarter, Foster’s ankle twisted as he attempted to make a tackle on Panthers’ rookie Christian McCaffrey.
Foster could not leave under his own power, and instead exited the field and was taken to the 49ers’ locker room on a medical cart.
The 49ers announced shortly after Foster’s injury that his return is questionable.
At the time of his injury, Foster had a game-high three tackles.
On the play following his injury, Carolina opened the scoring with a 40-yard touchdown pass from Cam Newton to Russell Shepard.
