Talanoa Hufanga's injury puts 49ers rookie Malik Mustapha in starting role

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Safety Talanoa Hufanga tore ligaments in his right wrist Sunday and will be out at least a month, San Francisco 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said Tuesday.

Shanahan said the 49ers haven’t decided whether to put Hufanga and kicker Jake Moody, who suffered a high ankle sprain, on injured reserve. If the team does, they will be the fifth and sixth players to land on injured reserve since the season began.

Hufanga’s absence will give rookie Malik Mustapha an extended run at the safety spot opposite second-year player Ji’Ayir Brown. The early returns on Mustapha’s 147 defensive snaps have been good. He saw his first career start in Week 4 and registered two passes defended in the team’s loss to the Arizona Cardinals in Week 5. Only guard Dominick Puni (339 snaps on offense) has been on the field more among the 49ers rookie class.

“Just his knack of not hesitating,” Shanahan said when asked what’s stood out about Mustapha. “You guys saw that a little in the preseason, some of the hits he had, especially a couple in that Tennessee game, from what I remember. And when he’s come in (in the regular season), he’s done the same stuff. He gets faster each week.”

One blemish on Mustapha’s early resume: missed tackles. He had a prominent one on punt coverage in the Week 3 loss to the Los Angeles Rams, one on the New England Patriots’ opening drive in Week 5 and two in Sunday’s loss to the Cardinals. He and the rest of San Francisco’s defense had trouble with 230-pound James Conner and combined for 12 missed tackles in the loss, according to Pro Football Focus.

They’ll get a chance for redemption Thursday against the Seattle Seahawks’ top runner, Kenneth Walker III.

During the week, defensive coordinator Nick Sorensen showed his players a reel highlighting Walker’s combination of balance and power. Those clips prominently featured Walker’s Week 4 play against the Detroit Lions, during which he used his opponent’s body to propel himself back onto his feet and keep running.

K9. What?! 🤯 pic.twitter.com/XejbOzrqK3

— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) October 1, 2024

“It’s not a one-time thing,” Sorensen said of the play. “He just doesn’t go down, and he’s hard to get down.”

Linebacker Fred Warner recalled a similar play from last season when the Seahawks visited Levi’s Stadium in which he seemed to have the running back stopped, but Walker kept spinning and stayed on his feet.

“I’ve seen that before,” he said.

Walker’s best game against San Francisco came in the 2022 wild-card round when he had 15 carries for 63 yards and a touchdown. He was inactive for last season’s meeting in Seattle and got only eight carries — for 21 yards — in the rematch at Levi’s Stadium. All three games were 49ers wins.

Still, Mustapha and the 49ers are keeping Walker’s Matrix-like maneuver against the Lions in mind this week.

“That was a freakish play, for sure,” Mustapha said. “That just shows that we’ve really got to rally and swarm as a defense to get the ball carrier down.”

Odds and ends

• Shanahan said there isn’t a firm timeline for how long Moody will be out, but he added that high ankle sprains usually take about a month to heal. That prognosis would put Moody back on the field for the 49ers’ first game after the bye, Nov. 10 at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Matthew Wright will serve as the kicker in the meantime. Wright, 28, won a tryout competition Monday that included Riley Patterson, Randy Bullock, Anders Carlson and Matt Coghlin.

Wright, who entered the league in 2019 as an undrafted free agent, has appeared in 24 games since and connected on 40 of 47 field goal attempts. He spent about a week with the 49ers before last year’s season opener because Moody was dealing with a quad strain.

• The 49ers held a half-speed practice in Levi’s Stadium on Tuesday evening, their only session of the week before flying to Seattle on Wednesday.

49ers holding a rare practice under the lights. They’ll be in their all-white unis on Thursday… pic.twitter.com/La4Oos5Z2A

— Matt Barrows (@mattbarrows) October 9, 2024

Those who missed practice included Hufanga, Moody, linebacker Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles (calf) and defensive tackle Jordan Elliott (knee). Meanwhile, Warner (ankle), Brown (ankle), tight end George Kittle (ribs), cornerback Charvarius Ward (knee bruise) and receiver Chris Conley (oblique) were limited.

• Shanahan said he was surprised the New York Jets fired former 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh on Tuesday, five games into the season. Shanahan said he texted Saleh but hasn’t spoken to him yet due to the constraint of the short week.

“Yeah, I was pretty shocked,” he said. “This stuff throws you off, especially when (the Jets) are competing for first in the division this week and they’re (ranked) up there on defense, and they’ve got a pretty good team and a chance to have a hell of a year.”

The Jets are 2-3, just like the 49ers.

Jeff Ulbrich, New York’s defensive coordinator, will take over as interim head coach. The 49ers inquired about Ulbrich and were rebuffed when they began their search for a defensive coordinator in the offseason.

• Shanahan gave strong backing to Sorensen when he was asked to evaluate him through five games.

“I think Nick’s doing a real good job,” he said. “I’ve been impressed with him since the beginning. Each week, I like how he handles the defensive staff, I like how they set up the practices, I like his game plans, and I like how he’s called it. So I’ve been real happy with Nick so far.”

(Photo of Malik Mustapha: Michael Owens / Associated Press)