49ers RB had ribs fractured by his own teammate, coach confirms

San Francisco 49ers running back Jordan James is due to miss time in training camp with a fractured rib. The nature of the injury was a little strange because it happened before pads were on and contact really begins in camp.

Offensive line coach and acting head coach Chris Foerster shed light on the situation after Friday’s practice, and indicated an overaggressive 49ers defense was at fault for the injury.

“I don’t know. We haven’t given the time on it yet,” Foerster said. “So, he’ll be back as soon as he can with the rib. A lot of times it’s tolerate. Sometimes it heals faster or slower. So, I think it’s hard to put a definite time frame on. It was a combination of the punch out. It’s the punch out with the spin. It’s one of those perfect storms. You punch out, you hit the ball. They don’t miss the ball very much. But if all of a sudden when he goes to the ball, you move, all of a sudden something else is there. And I think he saw the punch coming. There was time to see it and so he tried to do something to make him miss. I think that’s what caused it to happen.”

James suffered the injury in Monday’s session to begin the week. Brad Graham from the SF Niners YouTube channel was in the stands for Wednesday’s practice and astutely pointed out that Fred Warner wasn’t punching at the ball anymore, and instead making a show of not punching the ball.

That may be a sign that Warner or another linebacker who punches at the ball knew they caused the injury.

For James the injury could wind up costing him the RB2 job as rookie Kaelon Black slides into a bigger role. However it doesn’t sound like the 2025 fifth-round pick will miss an extended period of time, so he should have opportunities to stay in the mix once he’s able to get back on the field.

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This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: 49ers RB had ribs fractured by his own teammate, coach confirms