49ers Have Elevated Matthew Judon From Their Practice Squad

For the third season in a row, it has been injuries, injuries and more injuries for the San Francisco 49ers. In addition to all the men who were already out of action for them, wide receiver Mike Evans, defensive end Keion White and linebackers Dre Greenlaw and Jaden Dugger are listed as questionable for Sunday’s game.

Evans has a rib injury he sustained last Sunday, Greenlaw injured his quad last Sunday, White hurt his hamstring this week and Dugger injured his shoulder this week.

As a result, the Niners’ wide receiver room and defensive line could be severely depleted when they take on the Denver Broncos on Sunday. But they’re getting a bit of help.

Veteran Brandin Cooks has been elevated to the 53-man active roster from the practice squad, and so has Matthew Judon, per Nick Wagoner of ESPN.

The hope is that Judon is still spry

Judon is a four-time Pro Bowler who spent his first five seasons with the Baltimore Ravens and then played for the New England Patriots for three seasons. After that, as a member of the Atlanta Falcons in 2024, he played for 49ers defensive coordinator Raheem Morris when Morris was the Falcons’ head coach.

The question is obviously how much Judon has left in his tank. In 14 games last year, he had no sacks, three quarterback hits, one tackle for loss and one pass defended. The previous season in Atlanta, he recorded 5.5 sacks, nine QB hits, seven tackles for loss, five passes defended and one interception.

Perhaps Judon won’t play a large number of snaps versus Denver. But his mere presence should help, as he should, at the very least, be an innings-eater, to use a baseball term.

The hope is that second-year defensive end Mykel Williams, who returned to practice this week after tearing his ACL in Week 9 last season, will be able to play next Sunday against the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks. That will be the earliest he’ll be eligible to play after starting the season on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list.