San Francisco 49ers Carlos Rogers not expected to play
San Francisco 49ers veteran cornerback Carlos Rogers suffered a hamstring injury in Sunday’s 23-20 win over the Arizona Cardinals, and he underwent an MRI yesterday to assess the damage. Rogers stated that he didn’t expect the hamstring injury to be significant and hinted that the MRI was for precautionary measures, but it seems like the MRI may have shown something iffy.
According to a source close to the National Football Post’s Jason Cole, Carlos Rogers is not expected to play in the 49ers Wild Card round game against the Green Bay Packers, which will be a re-match of last year’s playoff game between these two teams. While the 49ers beat the Packers with relative ease last year and are the favorites this year, losing a solid corner like Rogers would hurt the cause. He plays a key role as their nickel corner, and the Packers love using their talented wide receiver in various alignments. Guys like Randall Cobb and Jordy Nelson can do some big-time damage in the slot, so the 49ers could really end up missing Rogers if the next man can’t step up.
That next man is Eric Wright, who hasn’t been a good cornerback in a few years. A chronic under-achiever, Wright has talent, but he’s been mired in off-the-field issues an inconsistent play. The 49ers have given up back-to-back big passing yard days to Matt Ryan and Carson Palmer, so they should be a bit worried about facing off against Aaron Rodgers.
Hopefully Rogers can play this week, but the initial outlook isn’t optimistic. Still, it is early, and Cole reports that the 49ers will test out Rogers’s hamstring tomorrow at practice.