49ers wide receiver Mike Evans was carted off the field in the second quarter of Sunday's game against the Cardinals after a violent hit from safety Budda Baker left him in obvious distress. Evans had just hauled in a touchdown earlier in the game and was working the middle of the field again when he took a helmet shot to the ribs on a play near the sideline. He was slow to get up, went to one knee in visible pain, and appeared to be struggling to breathe as trainers attended to him. After a stop in the medical tent, he was taken off on a cart and has been officially ruled out for the rest of the game.
Evans has real recent history with exactly this kind of upper-body trauma. Just last October, while still with Tampa Bay, he suffered a broken right collarbone and a concussion on the same play, diving for a deep ball against the Lions and landing hard on his head and shoulder. That injury required surgery and cost him roughly two months, and it ended an NFL-record streak of eleven straight 1,000-yard receiving seasons. He returned in mid-December and finished the year strong once healthy, which is part of why San Francisco brought him in this offseason as their new top receiving option.
Today's injury adds to what's already been a rough stretch for Evans in a 49ers uniform. He left last week's win over the Dolphins late with a hip injury that cost him practice time during the week, and now a significant rib injury just one week later continues a pattern of Evans dealing with something new almost every time he's finally gotten going. Rib injuries in particular carry their own risk profile beyond the pain itself, since a hard enough shot can sometimes affect breathing or, in rarer cases, an organ, which is likely part of why the medical staff opted for the cart rather than letting him walk off.
San Francisco's receiver room was already thin heading into today, with Ricky Pearsall out for the season, De'Zhaun Stribling recovering from ankle surgery, and Demarcus Robinson on injured reserve. With Evans now out as well, Deebo Samuel, George Kittle, and Christian McCaffrey will need to carry an even heavier share of the passing game. There's no word yet from the team on the severity of the rib injury or a timeline for Evans's return.
