The San Francisco 49ers received some bad news for their defensive backfield on Thursday after an MRI revealed that cornerback Chris Culliver has been lost for the season with a torn ACL. That is never what you want to see for anyone at this point in the season, especially when that team is looking to make a return to the Super Bowl.
Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network passed along the news:
I'm told #49ers CB Chris Culliver tore his ACL today during practice. Terrible. A late MRI revealed the news.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 2, 2013
The injury occurred during practice when Culliver got tied up with seventh-round CB Marcus Cooper and eventually went down with the torn ACL.
Culliver was slated as the team’s No. 3 cornerback, but now Nnamdi Asomugha sits in the driver’s seat with Tramaine Brock providing some competition.
While the loss of Culliver hurts the defensive backfield, his presence will also be missed on the special teams unit.