The San Francisco 49ers recently brought a familiar face back onto their practice squad. Now they may need to turn to that familiar face in their Week 10 matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Tashaun Gipson was released by the Jacksonville Jaguars and quickly scooped up by the 49ers to join their practice squad. He offered good internal depth San Francisco knew it could rely on after he spent the 2022 and 2023 campaigns as the 49ers’ starting free safety.
Rookie Malik Mustapha has stepped into a starting role nicely after veteran Talanoa Hufanga went down with a wrist injury. Now Mustapha is dealing with an injury of his own, opening the door for Gipson to get back on the roster for game day.
Mustapha suffered a calf injury that limited him in Thursday and Friday’s practices. He’s officially listed as ‘questionable.’ Head coach Kyle Shanahan on Friday told reporters Gipson is a potential replacement for Mustapha if the rookie can’t go Sunday.
“Yeah, he is in the mix,” Shanahan said. “Especially with Mustapha being questionable. He got a week in practice at Jacksonville, he’s done awesome this week in his three days. And we’ll discuss that with him over these next 24 hours. It’s nicer being on the east coast, we get until four o’clock instead of one. But those are all things that he looks good enough to do it. Just kind of depends on the health of everyone else.”
Gipson spent most of the preseason with the Jaguars after signing in mid-August. He didn’t appear in a game for them before getting released in early November.
He played in 33 games across two seasons with the 49ers, and registered six interceptions with 11 pass breakups.
The 49ers and Buccaneers are slated to kick off at 10:00am Pacific Time from Raymond James Stadium.
