The 49ers lost another game Sunday, this time to the Tampa Bay Bucs, 27-9.
But, that’s not really news in this lost season. It’s just one more ugly Sunday for a team that is now 2-9 and still in the running for the worst record in the NFL.
The big news Sunday was the team’s decision to part ways with linebacker Reuben Foster, a first-round pick from 2017 who appeared as a rookie to be on his way to an elite career. But the organization decided to release Foster after he was arrested at the team hotel in Florida late Saturday night and charged with one count of first-degree misdemeanor domestic-violence battery. After a previous incident involving Foster this past offseason, in which the same woman involved in this incident declined to press charges, the 49ers made a quick decision to let Foster go and move on.
General manager John Lynch – the man who drafted Foster out of Alabama last year – said the team had made it clear to Foster his behavior had to change, so the team had no choice.
“(This is) more of a comment on him not living up to what we had communicated and to the energy and the time that we’ve invested him,” said Lynch. “That doesn’t mean we don’t love him, we all do, we care for him, but we feel like it’s in the best interest of our organization to move on at this point and that’s a very tough decision.”
Foster’s release is another mark against the top of the team’s 2017 draft, which initially looked as if it would be terrific as a foundation for the franchise. So far, No. 1 pick Solomon Thomas has been good but not great on the defensive line, Foster is gone, third-round pick Ahkello Witherspoon has regressed at cornerback and fourth-round pick Joe Williams, a running back, is also gone.
Meanwhile, the Niners on the field struggled again Sunday.
Sports
The Bucs scored first on a 6-yard TD pass from Jameis Winston to Cameron Brate in the first quarter for a 7-0 lead. Nick Mullens then drove the 49ers 79 yards, culminating with a 13-yard scoring pass to Dante Pettis in the second quarter, but the extra-point try hit the upright. The Bucs tacked on two field goals to lead at the half, 13-6.
After San Francisco cut the lead to 13-9 on a Robbie Gould field goal, the Bucs answered with a pair of touchdowns – a 2-yard run by Peyton Barber and a Winston-to-Adam Humphries 28-yard pass – for the final margin.
Mullens finished 16-of-29 for 198 yards, one TD and one interception and was sacked four times. Matt Breida ran 14 times for 106 yards and added three catches for 34 yards.
The 49ers travel to Seattle to take on the Seahawks this coming Sunday.
