For defensive end Drake Jackson, the 2024 season ends before it even begins.
The San Francisco 49ers have officially placed Jackson on the reserve list because he is physically unable to play. As a result, Jackson will not be able to play this year, effectively ending his season. Jackson underwent surgery on his patellar tendon in the offseason and was hopeful he would be fit by Week 1.
Unfortunately, his status for the season was called into question when Kyle Shanahan ruled him out of training camp on July 29. This was something he and the 49ers expected given the severity of the injury and the surgery.
“When you do a surgery like he had, I think (Mike) McGlinchey had a similar one, those are big surgeries,” Shanahan said. “It’s hard to recover from and you never know how they’re going to react. We always know it can take a long time, and it takes a long time.”
The 49ers clearly viewed Jackson’s roster spot as expendable. By placing him on the reserve/PUP list, they were able to retain a player who is healthy and can contribute effectively this season. Jackson is a player the 49ers have not believed in since last season.
This was proven when they signed defensive end Randy Gregory at the start of the 2023 season. Gregory immediately overtook Jackson in the rankings and played more games than him, so you have to take into account that the 49ers didn’t rate him highly before and he’s now coming off a serious injury.
It was a given that the 49ers were going to bench Jackson all year. I think it’s safe to say his future with the 49ers is over. His career hasn’t panned out at all like the 49ers hoped it would, and were filled with a lot of hype when they got him at the end of the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft.
Jackson will try to recover from this injury and save his declining NFL career.
