SANTA CLARA, Calif. — On the cusp of returning from a torn ACL in his right knee, San Francisco 49ers cornerback Jason Verrett‘s latest comeback attempt came to a halt on Wednesday afternoon.
That’s when Verrett, who had been activated from the physically unable to perform list in October, suffered a torn Achilles tendon in the 49ers’ practice. The Niners announced the injury on Thursday and that Verrett will be out for the rest of the year.
Verrett’s injury came within a couple of hours of Niners coach Kyle Shanahan expressing optimism that Verrett would be active for the first time this season on Sunday night against the Los Angeles Chargers.
“I thought he was real close, we considered him last week or two weeks ago,” Shanahan said Wednesday morning before practice. “I know he was here for a lot of the time when we were away. I know he did some stuff down on his own, where he goes and so I expect him to be further along this week. I’ll see him out there in about an hour, but hopefully he’s closer.”
The Achilles tear is the latest in a long list of significant injuries Verrett has suffered since entering the league as a first-round pick of the Chargers in the 2014 NFL draft. Before Verrett tore his right ACL on Sept. 12, 2021, he also had played just six games in a four-season span (2016-18 with the Chargers and 2019 with the Niners) because of a torn left ACL in 2016, persistent knee issues in 2017 and a torn right Achilles in 2018 that lingered into 2019.