San Francisco 49ers cornerback Emmanuel Moseley has suffered a torn ACL and will miss the rest of the 2022-2023 season, head coach Kyle Shanahan said Monday.
An MRI confirmed what the Niners already feared after their 37-15 win over the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, per ESPN. Moseley will have knee surgery soon to repair the damage.
Moseley’s day against the Panthers was going well before his injury. He picked off quarterback Baker Mayfield in the second quarter and took it to the house for his first career pick-six.
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But in the fourth quarter, Moseley went down on the artificial turf at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, and immediately grabbed his left knee.
"It was tough there at the end," Shanahan told reporters. ""It was a weird feeling just watching E-Man. Lots of guys got hurt, but it didn't look good. That definitely took away a little of the excitement at the end, but we know the deal. It's part of this league. Everybody goes through it, and it was a tough one."
Shanahan added, "I know he knows how I feel. I've said that [I wanted to keep Moseley long-term] before the injury. I know I feel the same, if not stronger, so it was a really sad, unfortunate thing to happen to him. … He will be really missed this year, and I really hope to have him back next year."
Three other 49ers players — Nick Bosa, Robbie Gould and Jimmie Ward — also had to leave the game early. But Moseley’s injury was the worst of them all, and now Shanahan will have to dip into his depth chart to fill the void.
Deommodore Lenoir is the likely guy to step up in the absence of Moseley at left corner with Charvarius Ward opposite him on the line of scrimmage.
Luckily for the Niners, they do have solid depth players on a defense that has been one of the best in the league thus far. They lead the NFL in yards allowed per game with just 249.2 in five contests.
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Still, they’ve had to go to their depth players too often on the defensive side of the ball, with defensive tackles Arik Armstead and Javon Kinlaw still dealing with injuries as well. Linebackers Curtis Robinson and Azeez Al-Shaair are also on the IR.
For Moseley, he’s allowed just a 71.3 passer rating over five games, per Pro Football Reference. He was in his fifth year with San Francisco after going undrafted out of Tennessee.
