SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Two days after a scary incident in which he was taken off the field on a stretcher, San Francisco 49ers defensive end Tarron Jackson has landed on injured reserve.
The Niners announced Tuesday that they’ve placed Jackson on IR with what the team is calling a neck injury he suffered midway through Sunday’s practice. San Francisco signed defensive end Jaylon Allen to take Jackson’s spot on the roster.
Jackson suffered the injury during what appeared to be a standard running play as offensive tackle Isaac Alarcon blocked him. As Alarcon and Jackson engaged, Jackson suddenly went to the ground and did not immediately get up.
Teammates quickly shouted for help as the training staff hurried to Jackson’s side. The fourth-year defensive end was briefly motionless before he could be seen moving his hands and communicating with medical professionals and coaches.
“[You’re] always scared when someone gets taken off on a stretcher,” coach Kyle Shanahan said Sunday. “He’s conscious, communicating with us, can feel all his extremities …. So, hopefully we cleared the real scary stuff.”
After about six minutes on the ground, Jackson was placed on a stretcher and taken off the field by cart. Roughly 15 minutes after that, an ambulance took Jackson to Stanford hospital for further evaluation. He was released from the hospital on Sunday night and was back in the Niners facility on Monday morning while continuing to be evaluated.
The Niners originally signed Jackson to their practice squad in early January. They then signed him to a futures contract after the season. He spent his first three seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles before splitting last year between the Eagles, Carolina Panthers and 49ers.
According to league rules, placing Jackson on injured reserve at this point means he would not be eligible to be designated as a player who can return and his season is over barring a recovery and further tweaking of his roster status.
