Could Michael Crabtree return in mid November for San Francisco 49ers?
By Josh Davis
Michael Crabtree could return for the late season run of San Francisco, says a source familiar with his return timetable has told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
The source said “it looks like he’ll be ready come playoff time”.
The Niners are expecting him back by late November at the earliest, likely during the last couple weeks of the season or like the source said, maybe just the playoffs. But coach Jim Harbaugh is expecting that Crabtree will be “game ready” by mid-November, just a month from now.
That would put him in the lineup for the last six or seven weeks of the year. That final stretch would include the second match-ups of the season against the entire NFC West and games against Washington and Atlanta. Those are all huge games and the Niners have shown some tendencies of being less than explosive at times on offense.
Crabtree could really make Anquan Boldin a threat and one would think that Frank Gore would probably benefit the most. He’s been an on/off threat from week to week all season, all though of late he’s coming on nicely with 100 yard performances in two of his last three.
Most of all though, Crabtree would open it up for Kaepernick, who has really not found the space this year to make big runs without the deep threat.