49ers' Alfred Collins suffers season-ending injury days before historic Melbourne opener

San Francisco 49ers defensive tackle Alfred Collins tore his patellar tendon at a practice in Melbourne and will miss the 2026 season, head coach Kyle Shanahan confirmed. Collins needs surgery and will be placed on injured reserve, ending his second NFL year before it began.

"Alfred tore his patellar tendon yesterday," Shanahan said, via Nick Wagoner of ESPN. "That was a big loss. We've lost two D-lineman pretty much for the year after cuts and before the first game which has been a huge challenge. I'm hurting for Alfred. It was real unfortunate for him."

Sam Okuayinonu injured his foot shortly before the team flew to Australia and faces an operation expected to cost him most or all of the season, leaving San Francisco without two interior linemen as it opens its schedule.

What is left of San Francisco's interior defensive line

The No. 43 pick in the 2025 draft out of Texas, Collins had been set to start after playing 16 games as a rookie and finishing with 17 tackles, a sack, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries. One of those came in Week 5 at SoFi Stadium, when he punched the ball out of Kyren Williams' hands at the 1-yard line and recovered it himself in a 26-23 overtime win over the Los Angeles Rams.

The Rams are the opponent again on Thursday, and this time San Francisco goes in with CJ West and rookie Gracen Halton as the only healthy options on the 53-man roster who can start alongside Osa Odighizuwa. Undrafted rookie James Thompson Jr. has been dealing with a hamstring issue.

Kevin Givens and Sebastian Valdez traveled to Melbourne on the practice squad and are the available elevations. 

Kickoff at the Melbourne Cricket Ground is set for 8:35 p.m. ET on Thursday.