The 49ers kept waiting for wide receiver Pierre Garcon to get healthy and back on the field.
Now that wait is over.
The veteran Garcon, who hasn’t played since aggravating a knee injury in a game against the Raiders, is out for the remainder of this season and will be placed on injured reserve.
He is expected to have arthroscopic knee surgery Tuesday.
Now in his 11th NFL season, Garcon, 32, was known for his good hands, precise routes and durability over his first nine seasons. But since joining the 49ers in 2017, Garcon missed the final eight games of his first season with San Francisco and will miss eight games in 2018 as well. Before coming to the Bay Area, Garcon had eight seasons of 14 or more games played.
Garcon still has three more years left on his five-year deal with the 49ers. But as Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com reported, the 2019 through 2021 seasons are at the team’s option. So, Garcon could return, or he could be allowed to leave, with the team off the hook for any contract hit.
“We waited on Pierre for a bit,” head coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters Monday. “It was going very positive for a while. That’s why I feel good about it. …
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“We tried our hardest last week. He went out and went full-go Wednesday. It swelled up on him, caused him a lot of pain, and after having that same thing through almost most of the year, especially it was the week before the Green Bay game that it really started coming, it was just lingering too long where P knew he had to get something done. So we had to shut him down now.”
In eight games this season, Garcon had 24 catches for 286 yards and one touchdown, the lowest totals of his career since his rookie season of 2008 with the Colts when he appeared in just four games.
The 3-10 49ers, coming off a win over Denver, will return to action Sunday at Levi’s Stadium against 8-5 Seattle. Kickoff is set for 1:05 p.m.
