The San Francisco 49ers might once again be dealing with a missing specialist.
Punter Mitch Wishnowsky has been dealing with a back injury that flared up during the team’s Week 10 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Head coach Kyle Shanahan on Monday said the team would be evaluating treatment options, and left Wishnowsky’s status for Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks up in the air.
San Francisco’s practice squad tweak before Wednesday’s game wasn’t a good sign for Wishnowsky’s availability.
The 49ers on Tuesday announced the addition of punter Pat O’Donnell to their practice squad. They released veteran defensive tackle T.Y. McGill in a corresponding move to make room on their 16-man practice squad roster.
O’Donnell, 33, was a sixth-round pick of the Chicago Bears in the 2014 draft out of the University of Miami. He played in 145 games across nine years, including eight with the Bears, and one each with the Green Bay Packers and Atlanta Falcons. His stint with the Falcons last year was only on their practice squad.
He’s averaging 45.1 yards per punt across 616 kicks in his career.
Ideally the 49ers wouldn’t need to replace Wishnowsky, who also missed time in the preseason. However, this is something they’ve dealt with on the kicking side where kickers Jake Moody and Matt Wright both suffered injuries that caused them to miss time.
Given the team’s special teams struggles, having to replace reliable players on those units could be a significant issue moving forward.
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