SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- One week and one day after the scary collision that left him dealing with a concussion at Stanford Medical Center, San Francisco 49ers linebacker Donavin Newsom is going to injured reserve.
Niners general manager John Lynch said Wednesday that Newsom, who was released from the hospital last week after a couple of days under observation, will be designated waived/injured on the NFL's transaction wire. Assuming Newsom clears waivers, which is expected, he would revert to the Niners' injured reserve list.
"I know everybody here saw Donavin Newsom last week with a scary situation and he's doing better each day," Lynch said. "We're going to put him on injured reserve and so that's going to come across the wire procedurally as a waived/injured but he's going to be on injured reserve."
On August 9, Newsom and safety Chanceller James collided while trying to make a play on a pass over the middle. Newsom fell to the ground and did not move as Niners' medical staff rushed to help him. After stabilizing his head and neck, an ambulance took Newsom to Stanford Medical Center about 12 minutes after the injury.
That afternoon, the 49ers sent out a statement that Newsom had no cervical spine fractures but did suffer a concussion. Newsom stayed in the hospital for a couple of nights but was released last Friday.
Newsom, an undrafted rookie out of the University of Missouri, has been making progress, according to Lynch.
"In talking with our doctors, he got great care up here at Stanford," Lynch said. "It's the best thing for the kid, give him time to really get right. So I had a good talk with him this morning."
