Once again, the San Francisco 49ers and injury issues are going hand in hand during an NFL season. Just like how things were troublesome last year, the 49ers have a lot of injury issues this season.

While they aren't down their best players like the team was last season, there is one issue that has started to come into focus: The 49ers might be running out of IR spots.

ESPN's Nick Wagoner pushed back on that idea, revealing just why the 49ers' IR problems aren't actually as dire as they might seem. It's still very much a problem, but it's not too much to stress about just yet.

Why 49ers' IR problems aren't as bad as they seem

"Are the Niners really 'out' of injured reserve return designations? In theory, yes. In practicality, not really," Wagoner writes.

The reason why it seems like the 49ers might be out of IR spots is thanks to the extension list of players already on IR heading into Week 5 of the 2026 season.

Christian Kirk, Austen Plesants, Alfred Collins, Andrew Farmer II, Nick Martin, Mikail Kamara, Darrick Forrest, Nate Hobbs, Sam Okuayinonu, Ricky Pearsall, De'Zhuan Stribling, Jake Tonges, C.J. West, Nick Zakelj, and Brett Toth are all on IR right now.

With NFL teams only able to activate eight players off IR all regular season, the 49ers are already well past that eight-player mark. Kirk and Plesants have already been logged as players returning from IR this season, bringing them down to just six for the year.

At first glance, this might be a massive problem. But with players like Collins, Pearsall and Tonges done for the year, there are fewer players to worry about right now.

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"From the list, Robinson, Stribling and West are the best bets to return if and when they recover," Wagoner writes. "The rest of the list largely comprises solid depth players who are more likely to return to practice if more injuries happen at their positions."

While the 49ers' IR list might be extensive, not all of these players are slated to come back this season, and not all are pivotal players worth keeping around.

Heading into Week 5, the 49ers look likely to activate Kirk, Plesants, Stribling, West, and Robinson off IR at some point this season. That's five of the eight possible activations for the 49ers already accounted for.

This is not an ideal situation, but it's not to the point where there should be significant concern about the 49ers' IR list just yet. It's worrisome, but not to the point of panic. But if a few more players need to land on IR, then things could get very dicey.

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