49ers Place DE Drake Jackson on Reserve/PUP List

Drake Jackson will not be on hand for the 49ers in 2024 after they officially placed him on the reserve/physically unable to perform list.

Dec 11, 2022; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers defensive end Drake Jackson (95) celebrates after the 49ers made a defensive stop on fourth down against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the fourth quarter at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports / Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports

The 2024 season ends before it begins for defensive end Drake Jackson.

The San Francisco 49ers have officially placed Jackson on the reserve/physically unable to perform list. As a result, Jackson will not be able to play this year, effectively ending his season. Jackson had patellar tendon surgery in the offseason with the hope that he would be ready by Week 1.

Unfortunately, his status for the season became in doubt when Kyle Shanahan ruled him out of training camp back on July 29. It is something that he and the 49ers anticipated given the severity of the injury and operation.

“Anytime you do that type of surgery that he had, I think [Mike] McGlinchey had a similar one, those are big surgeries," Shanahan said. "They're tough to come back from and you never know how they're gonna react. We always know it's a possibility to take a long time and it's taking a long time.”

The 49ers clearly viewed Jackson's roster spot as expendable. By placing him on the reserve/PUP list, they can retain a player who is healthy and can effectively contribute this season. Jackson has been a player the 49ers lost belief in since last season.

That was proven when they acquired defensive end Randy Gregory early in the 2023 season. Gregory immediately leap-frogged Jackson on the depth chart and saw more snaps than him. So, you factor in that the 49ers already were low on him and now he is coming off a significant injury.

The writing was on the wall that the 49ers would place Jackson on the shelf for the entire year. I think it is safe to say his future with the 49ers is over. His career has not gone at all what the 49ers had hoped, which was filled with hype when the 49ers got him at the end of the second-round in the 2022 NFL draft.

Jackson will look to rebound from this injury and salvage his NFL career that is trending downward.