The San Francisco 49ers’ Sunday practice took a frightening turn when defensive lineman Tarron Jackson went down during team drills, sending a shock through everyone on the field.
Jackson, 27, had just absorbed a block in 11-on-11 work—nothing out of the ordinary there for a defensive lineman. But what followed was anything but routine: Jackson collapsed to the turf and didn’t get up. Trainers rushed to his side and the mood on the practice field turned tense. Players and staff watched in silence as Jackson was placed on a stretcher, carefully carted off, and then transported by ambulance to a nearby hospital for evaluation.
The gravity of the situation wasn’t lost on his teammates. Star running back Christian McCaffrey spoke after practice, his concern evident. “It’s never good,” McCaffrey said of seeing a teammate go down in those circumstances. “You just gotta pray for the best in situations like that. It’s definitely a reminder not to take any day for granted. It’s a non-padded practice, and dudes are getting carted off. It’s a serious sport, and just pray for the best for him.”
The 49ers brought Jackson in with hopes he could add to a deep defensive line rotation. A sixth-round pick of the Philadelphia Eagles in 2021, Jackson has logged 24 NFL games, tallying 18 tackles and a sack along the way—a solid body of work for a player who’s spent time with the Eagles and Panthers, mostly working his way through practice squads and earning snaps where he could. Heading into camp, Jackson was hungry for an opportunity to make the 53-man roster in San Francisco.
The play itself came late in practice, during a third-team rep. Jackson went down after contact—his teammates and coaches gathered around, offering support as trainers assessed him. Given how quickly the medical staff responded, everyone knew this was more than your typical training camp injury.
While initial scenes were worrying—these moments always remind us how physically demanding and high-stakes football can be—there was a glimmer of good news. Head coach Kyle Shanahan provided an encouraging update after practice, sharing that Jackson was conscious, communicating with the team, and had full feeling in his extremities. Shanahan added, “He is conscious, inside communicating with us, can feel all his extremities, and they’re taking him down to Stanford now just for further testing. So hopefully, we cleared the real scary stuff, and hopefully we’ll get some good news on his neck.”
For a team with high expectations and a tight-knit locker room, moments like these put everything in perspective—reminding players, coaches, and fans that, even in practice, the game demands respect. For now, the 49ers—along with the rest of the league—wait and hope for positive news on Jackson’s recovery.
