49ers Sign Veteran Terrance Mitchell to Boost Defensive Depth
Given the way the San Francisco 49ers’ postseason run ended last year with an injury to quarterback Brock Purdy and a subsequent injury to quarterback Josh Johnson, it stands to reason that 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan would want to be careful with depth at every position a list To that end, the team looked for a veteran quarterback and found one this week: Terrance Mitchell, an eight-year veteran who played for six teams and started 56 games.The move comes as the defensive backfield has been decimated by multiple injuries, leaving the unit depleted. The latest came for cornerback Jason Verrett, who suffered another setback as he tries to return to the NFL field after suffering multiple injuries.Verrett was on the 49ers practice squad when he suffered a season-ending shoulder injury.
Mitchell, who was with the 49ers for a short time in training camp before being released, will replace Verrett as the team’s emergency cornerback.Terrance Mitchell forced 10 fumblesIn addition to Mitchell, the 49ers added former Titans defensive lineman Sam Okuayinonu to the practice squad. Okuayinonu, an undrafted free agent out of Maryland, played in six games with Tennessee last year.
The 49ers also have injury issues on the defensive line, with tackle Arik Armstead dealing with plantar fasciitis — but expected to play when the 49ers take the field in 10 days — and wide receiver Clelin Ferrell dealing with a knee injury.But Okuayinonu is far from calling because he has no experience.Mitchell, on the other hand, was a seventh-round pick of the Cowboys and bounced from Dallas to Buffalo as a rookie before playing two seasons in Kansas City. After that, he had his best years playing in Cleveland for three seasons.
He won the starting job for the Browns in 2020 and started all 16 games.Mitchell started 13 games for the Texans the following year. He played in 11 games for the Titans last season, starting five of them. Mitchell signed with the 49ers just before the start of training camp, but less than two weeks later he was placed on injured reserve with an as-yet-undisclosed injury. He has not played at all this season.
Mitchell has 10 career touchdowns and nine interceptions.49ers in NFL playoffsEarlier this week, Shanahan expressed his desire to get another veteran defensive end back. The team had Casey Hayward in training, but ended up going with Terrance Mitchell.”We have six veterans on the practice squad, and we think those veterans are guys that can help us,” Shanahan said.
“So losing JV was tough. We wanted to make sure we got at least one more corner. We want to see some vets because that spot opened up.”In general, though, Shanahan likes where his team is injury-wise.”I think it looks good,” Shanahan said of the injury picture.
“I think our goal is to come out of (Week 18) healthy. We had some guys get hit. But I think Cle is the one we’re most likely to lose for at least one game. But after that, we didn’t. lose. in any other game. It looks like we’ll get most of the guys back that missed that game.”Sean Deveney is a veteran sports reporter covering the NBA and NFL for Heavy.com.
He has written for Heavy since 2019 and has more than two decades of NBA experience, including 17 years as Sporting News’ NBA editor. Deveney is the author of 7 non-fiction books including “Fun City,andquot; andquot;Before Wrigley became Wrigley,andquot; and andquot;Michael Jordan’s face.andquot; Learn more about Sean Deveney.
