49ers Credit: Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports
NFLBy Ben Axelrod on

While the San Francisco 49ers moved to 7-3 with a 27-14 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, they also suffered a significant loss to their defense.

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan has confirmed that safety Talanoa Hufanga suffered a torn ACL in San Francisco’s Week 11 win. The 2022 first-team All-Pro and Pro Bowl selection will miss the remainder of the 2023 season as a result of the injury.

“He started out well,” Shanahan told reporters of Hufanga according to the team’s official website. “He hit a little lull during the season in our skid, and he played one of his best games versus Jacksonville. I thought the same thing was going to happen here, but I thought he was going to end up having a real good year.”

After Hufanga suffered the injury in the third quarter of Sunday’s game, San Francisco replaced him with rookie Ji’Ayir Brown. The Penn State product played well, tallying four total tackles, three passes defended and a quarterback hit, as well as an interception with 3:38 remaining to help seal the 49ers’ win.

Now Brown will find himself in San Francisco’s starting lineup as the 49ers look to make good on their Super Bowl aspirations. Following the news of Hufanga’s season-ending injury on Monday, many took to social media to weigh in.

[Adam Schefter on X, 49ers]

About Ben Axelrod

Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.

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