Carlos Hyde injured, not practicing for 49ers

San Francisco 49ers running back Carlos Hyde is wearing a sling at practice, according to various media outlets covering the 49ers, including our sister site Niners Nation. Hyde has 109 carries for 429 yards and six touchdowns this season.

The 49ers offense is already struggling to produce much of anything, even after replacing Blaine Gabbert with Colin Kaepernick. Football Outsiders ranks them just 22nd, and 30th in terms of passing. Almost all of the positive things the San Francisco offense has done have come through the running game, which will likely be hampered by Hyde’s absence.

If Hyde can’t go, the 49ers are likely to start Mike Davis, per Niners Nation’s David Fucillo. Davis has 45 career carries for just 76 yards, but apparently head coach Chip Kelly trusts him more than Shaun Draughn, who appears to have been demoted this past week.

Whether this matters against the Bucs remains to be seen. Mostly that’ll depend on the health of Gerald McCoy, Clinton McDonald, and Robert Ayers, the three starting defensive linemen who should be anchoring the team’s run defense. All three of them were absent from Monday’s practice, but we’ll get a better view of their likely availability tomorrow.