The San Francisco 49ers are struggling to find a reprieve from their injury woes.
Defensive end Bradlee Anae on Wednesday was placed on injured reserve, and wide receiver Malik Turner signed to fill the newly-vacant roster spot according to an announcement by the team.
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Turner is a familiar name for close followers of the 49ers preseason. This marks his third stint with San Francisco after signing in 2022 and again in 2024. He was primarily a practice squad player his first two times in the Bay Area, though he did appear in three games as a special teams contributor in 2022.
He joins a receiving corps full of question marks thanks to a slew of injuries. Jacob Cowing returned from a hamstring injury, but Jauan Jennings, Brandon Aiyuk and Jordan Watkins remain sidelined. Turner has 555 special teams snaps and 413 offensive snaps in 44 games since joining the NFL as an undrafted rookie with the Seahawks in 2018.
It’s unlikely Turner will make the roster, but he’ll be a significant piece of their receiving corps through the rest of camp and the preseason. The 49ers will want to keep their regular season contributors healthy and lean on players like Turner to eat snaps in joint practice with the Raiders and their final two preseason games.
The Anae injury is rough timing for the defensive lineman. He put together a nice preseason debut vs. the Denver Broncos and could’ve made noise in a shallow DE room. Now his season is likely over and the 49ers are still searching for answers down the depth chart at DE.
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This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: 49ers roster moves: Malik Turner signs, Bradlee Anae to IR