With De'Zhaun Stribling out 10 weeks, 49ers must adapt their passing game

San Francisco 49ers rookie receiver De'Zhaun Stribling has landed on injured reserve, and the news on his left ankle injury he suffered in the Niners' Week 1 win over the Los Angeles Rams in Australia is worse than initially feared.

Niners head coach Kyle Shanahan said that Stribling underwent surgery to repair the deltoid ligament sprain in his left ankle and is expected to miss around 10 weeks. That's a ligament on the inside of the foot and far less common than sprains to the exterior ligaments in ankles.

Initially, the team hoped that Stribling's injury could heal without surgery and that he could return following a four-week IR stint. Now he will miss more than half of his rookie season, a cruel blow for a team that has been crippled by injuries the past few years.

The second-round draft pick (33rd overall selection) from April was a standout player in training camp and the preseason, recording 11 catches for 109 yards in the first two exhibition games. Stribling didn't catch any passes in the opener but was leading the team in routes run when he left the game with the ankle injury.

The Niners were as impressive as almost any team in Week 1, yet the injury bug continues to gnaw at them, also losing tight end Jake Tonges to a season-ending knee injury against the Rams.

Can they withstand Stribling's injury and stay competitive with the NFC heavyweights while he's out? Let's investigate.

Filling the Stribling vacancy in the meantime

Stribling missing around 10 weeks significantly changes the outlook for the Niners' passing game. If he remains on pace with his rehabilitation, 10 weeks out would put him on track to return for the 49ers' second game against the Seahawks, in Week 12. He still could face each division opponent once more and have the final tranche of games to potentially ramp up for the postseason, but there's no guarantee he'll return in peak form if he does.

The 49ers were genuinely excited for Stribling and appeared to have big plans for him this season. Losing the 6-foot-2, sub-4.4-running Stribling takes an element away from San Francisco 's offense that might not be easily replicable.

The first order of business for replacing Stribling was signing KhaDarel Hodge off the practice squad to the team's 53-man roster. Hodge was elevated from the practice squad in Week 1, playing one snap on offense and 12 more on special teams.

The other receivers who played in the opener are the three the 49ers are most likely to lean on during Stribling's absence: Mike Evans , Demarcus Robinson and Deebo Samuel Sr. All three caught TD passes in the opener. Jacob Cowing also received five offensive snaps in the opener and served as the team's primary punt returner.

Evans showed in the opener why the Niners went after him this offseason despite being in the autumn of his career. His red-zone TD was classic Evans — and he's the kind of receiver they haven't had in recent years. Signing Evans feels even smarter now, and he figures to be the head honcho among the receivers.

Samuel showed why the 49ers brought him back, too, with 60 scrimmage yards on seven touches. He figures to resume his jack-of-all-trades role, lining up in the slot, out wide or even in the backfield.

Robinson, whose role increased as last season wore on and who had a big impact on the wild-card upset over the Philadelphia Eagles , has some big-play splash to help replace what they're missing with Stribling out.

The 49ers might lack a more vertical threat among them, outside of Robinson, which is a worry. But they might be able to creatively forge a few deep shots for Robinson and Cowing (and perhaps Hodge and Watkins, depending on their roles) to keep the shape of the offense similar.

Remember: The Niners lost Ricky Pearsall to a season-ending injury this offseason. Had he been healthy, perhaps losing Stribling wouldn't feel so tough right now.

Christian Kirk , who landed on short-term IR with a calf injury he suffered on the first day of training camp, is eligible to practice after the Week 2 game and can return as early as Week 5. Kirk is more of a professional slot weapon than a true outside threat, but he can help this team out.

Robinson's reliability, missing only a handful of games over his decade-long career, is one of his hallmarks. Good health was one of Evans' long-time calling cards, but he did miss more than half the season with injury in 2025 and turned 33 in August, creeping up on 200 career games. Samuel and Kirk have been injury-riddled, to varying degrees, throughout their careers. There are some questions here.

Losing Stribling fundamentally changes the makeup of the Niners' passing game, taking away a major slant-fade type of threat. It also limits what Brock Purdy and Shanahan can do to attack the intermediate and deeper parts of the field. It's hard to call the situation desperate, but it's concerning, even if there's still a chance Stribling contributes this season.

It will be interesting to see how the Niners compensate without the talented rookie, but they have a lot of arrows in their quiver, from Christian McCaffrey to George Kittle to Shanahan himself, plus Purdy's ability to extend plays and create on the move.

Collectively, they can survive in the short term. Longer term might be more of a stretch.