The 49ers on Friday made Kwon Alexander’s return from a torn pectoral official when they activated him off Injured Reserve. In a corresponding move, they placed defensive lineman Kentavius Street on IR with a knee injury.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan announced during his Thursday press conference the team would activate their linebacker, but didn’t have word on a move to clear space on the 53-man roster.
Alexander’s return came earlier than anticipated on a couple levels. Typically a torn pectoral ends a player’s season regardless of any playoff run. However, there was some optimism that Alexander may return in the event of a deep playoff run after he went down with the injury during the team’s Week 9 win in Arizona.
Shanahan believed that was still the case until Alexander was cleared to start practicing during the team’s first-round playoff bye. His progress and the bye week allowed Alexander enough time to get cleared by the medical staff in time for the divisional round.
Now it’s up to the coaching staff to determine his playing time. His role hasn’t been specified, but it sounds like he won’t be back for 100 percent of the snaps. Still, getting their emotional leader back for the start of the postseason could be a huge boost to the 49ers’ front seven against a very talented Vikings offense.
For Street, this marks the second time this season and third time in his two-year career that he’s hit injured reserve. He missed all of last year
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