EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsSANTA CLARA, Calif. -- San Francisco 49ers wide receiver De'Zhaun Stribling had surgery on his ankle and is expected to miss about 10 weeks, coach Kyle Shanahan said Wednesday.Stribling will be placed on injured reserve this week and the hope, Shanahan said, is that Stribling will be back this year."We feel good he'll get back this season," said Shanahan, who spoke to media for the first time since the team returned from Melbourne, Australia. "It'll take some time."Tight end Jake Tonges, who will require surgery on the injured medial collateral ligament in his right knee, was put on injured reserve Wednesday and is out for the season, Shanahan said.In related moves, the Niners promoted veteran wideout KhaDarel Hodge and tight end Brayden Willis from the practice squad to the 53-man roster.Stribling sprained the deltoid ligament in his left ankle, sources told NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. He sought multiple opinions to potentially rest the ankle and come back to play but ultimately decided on surgery.Shanahan said Stribling initially injured the ankle late in the first quarter on a pass play that went to tight end Luke Farrell. On the play, Stribling fell awkwardly on the ankle after he was hit by a Rams defender, hobbled to the sideline and went into the blue medical tent.From there, Niners medical personnel checked to make sure his Achilles was intact and ruled out any issues there as well as any fear of a high ankle sprain. Stribling did some light jogging and running on the sideline before going back in the game in the second quarter.Stribling ran a deep route and cut to his left before going down without contact."We were testing him," Shanahan said. "His Achilles (was) intact. We've seen it's not a high ankle sprain. He's running. We're going to let him go back in. And then he goes back in and does a turn that you don't replicate on the sideline, and then you find out it's worse than that."With Stribling out, the Niners will be without two of their projected top three receivers for the bulk of the season. Ricky Pearsall landed on injured reserve during training camp with persistent knee issues and will not return this year.The Niners now will lean on veterans Mike Evans, Deebo Samuel and Demarcus Robinson to handle the receiving load. Jacob Cowing, Jordan Watkins and Hodge offer depth, and veteran Christian Kirk is eligible to come off injured reserve after Week 4.Shanahan said he "believes" Kirk is on track to return at that time but added he's "not sure" about Kirk's status.Regardless, Shanahan offered a vote of confidence for the receivers remaining on the roster."We have enough," Shanahan said. "It's always tough when you lose two of your main guys, but I think we have as good a depth as anyone in the league. It's fortunate that he's not gone for the year like Ricky. We will get him back, but we have the people to still hold it down while he's gone."
