NASHVILLE Malcolm Smith Color Rush Jersey , Tenn. (AP) —to imagine how much better his struggling Tennessee offense might be if only three-time Pro Bowl tight end Delanie Walker hadn’t broken his ankle in the Titans’ season opener.Next man up is a necessity as much as a cliche in the NFL.“You have to adjust,” Vrabel said of losing the tight end with the most receptions in the NFL between 2013 and 2017. “I think the one thing about winners is that they’re flexible and they’re able to adapt, among other things. We have to continue to move forward with the guys that we have.”Marcus Mariota lost his favorite target, and the Titans are scraping along with the league’s 30th best passing offense after winning a playoff game last January.“It’s asked a lot of the young guys to step up,” Mariota said.Halfway through the NFL season, lots of stars, starters and key role players are sidelined by injuries with nobody topping the emotional departure of Seattle safety Earl Thomas after breaking his leg the same day Cincinnati tight end Tyler Eifert had his own gruesome leg injury. It’s making a big impact on the standings.OH NO, JIMMY GTrying to pick up an extra yard Sept. 23 cost San Francisco its quarterback, Jimmy Garoppolo, for the rest of this season with a torn left ACL when his leg buckled in the fourth quarter of a loss to Kansas City. That left the 49ers only three 2018 games with the man they signed to a $137.5 million, five-year contract after watching Garoppolo win five straight to wrap up last season.Garoppolo’s injury came three weeks after 49ers running back Jerick McKinnon tore his own ACL for a team that had all five offensive linemen hurt knees in a game.Now San Francisco’s playoff drought is assured of reaching a fifth straight season with the painful lesson for Garoppolo that a team needs its quarterback to be available.“That’s something that Jimmy will probably look at differently going forward because now he’ll remember this the rest of his life,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said. “Nothing against him. This happens with everyone. You see it every Sunday. It’s a reminder for everyone why it’s an obvious coaching point.”SO MANY ACLSWhen Texans receiver Will Fuller tore his ACL, he joined a list that includes Jaguars receiver Marqise Lee , who didn’t even make it to the regular season; Eagles running back Jay Ajayi; and Miami defensive end William Hayes, who tore his trying to avoid a roughing-the-passer penalty. Unfortunately, Hayes’ foot caught in the ground as he tried to keep his weight off Derek Carr during a sack.MISSING ON DEFENSEDerek Barnett recovered Tom Brady’s fumble to clinch the Eagles’ Super Bowl victory in February, but season-ending shoulder surgery has sidelined Philadelphia’s young defensive star. Green Bay lost defensive lineman Muhammad Wilkerson to an ankle injury.WAITING FOR BOSADefensive end Joey Bosa has not played a snap this season for the Chargers because of a bone bruise in his left foot, an injury that happened Aug. 7 during training camp. Bosa, the 2016 Defensive Rookie of the Year, tried to get back for the regular season, then reinjured his foot Sept. 5 and has been sidelined since.The Chargers hoped he might be back after their bye https://www.49ersfanshop.com/Robbie-Gould-Jersey , but Bosa says he’s still facing a week-to-week situation, while people keep asking him when he’ll be ready. Being 6-2 has allowed the Chargers to stay patient and avoid rushing him back again after what happened in September.“The second my foot is ready to practice on a Wednesday I will play that week,” Bosa said.MISSING COOKMISSING COOKLuckily, the Minnesota Vikings still had Latavius Murray while they waited for the return of running back Dalvin Cook . He played three of the first four games this season after reconstructive surgery on his left knee ended his rookie season, then sat out because of a hamstring injury until returning Sunday in a win over Detroit.That’s not the only issue for Minnesota, which is second in the NFC North after playing in the NFC championship last January. Rookie cornerback Mike Hughes , the 30th pick overall last April out of UCF, tore up his left knee in October.BATTERED FALCONSAtlanta has simply been decimated across the board in a season that started with hopes the Falcons might be the first team to play the Super Bowl on their own field. Both starting safeties and both starting guards are out for the season, top running back Devonta Freeman (groin) is on injured reserve and can’t return until December. Even kicker Matt Bryant has been hurt.That leaves Matt Ryan trying to carry the Falcons (4-4).ANOTHER TANNEHILL INJURYRyan Tannehill has missed four straight games with an injured shoulder, the latest problem for the Miami quarterback who missed all of the 2017 season after tearing an ACL in training camp. That was the same knee that kept him out of the final four games of 2016. Tannehill hurt his throwing shoulder in Week 5 and is trying to work his way back to the field. Luckily for the Dolphins, Brock Osweiler is 2-2 as a fill-in — even with starting left guard Josh Sitton and center Daniel Kilgore both out for the season.DISEASE NOT INJURYFour-time Pro Bowl center Travis Frederick is off the Dallas roster as he deals with an auto-immune disease, Guillain-Barre syndrome, which attacks nerves and leads to weakness in parts of the body. He has no idea when his football career will resume after dealing with numbness in both feet and hands and one arm. “I was very relieved to finally have an idea of what it was,” Frederick said.POSSIBLE RETURNSRams cornerback Aqib Talib is out at least until Thanksgiving after being placed on injured reserve after needing surgery on an ankle early this season, while the Raiders are in the same situation after putting running back Marshawn Lynch on IR last month after surgery to repair an injured groin.AND THEY KEEP COMINGDenver lost center Matt Paradis to a broken right leg when his own quarterback rolled up on him in the Broncos’ 19-17 loss to Houston on Sunday. The 49ers lost running back Raheem Mostert to a broken arm and cornerback Emmanuel Moseley to season-ending shoulder surgery in San Francisco’s win Thursday night. Fans typically look for honesty from the members of the team, let it be coaches or players, but rarely do they receive openness from their favorite teams. At the end of the year press conference two weeks ago, 49ers’ head coach Kyle Shanahan might have let out too much, admitting something that fans spend way too much time dwelling on — the “What If” scenarios?Shanahan and general manager John Lynch were asked about their expectations for 2018 and how their performance pales in comparison to those preseason wishes. Here is the 49ers’ head coach’s response:It’s not often that one hears a coach say “we should” have done this, but it was refreshing to hear Shanahan open up with the media. But how factually accurate was his statement? Should the San Francisco 49ers have finished the season 7-9?Let’s try and decode which three games that Shanahan is referring to and see what the 49ers could have done differently in each of those to come away victorious instead. Looking down their schedule, the 49ers lost five games by five points or less Reuben Foster Jersey , so it must be one of those games. These close losses were at the Chargers, at the Packers, at the Cardinals, vs. the Giants and vs. the Bears. Chargers 29 - 49ers 27Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty ImagesThis loss is one that’s sure to irk Shanahan and one that he thinks the 49ers should have in the W column. San Francisco went up 27-26 off of the right foot of kicker Robbie Gould and the 49ers’ defense was able to hold quarterback Phillip Rivers and the Chargers’ offense to three points on the next drive, making it 29-27, Chargers. The 49ers’ offense had two more chances, one being a three-and-out and the other being a C.J. Beathard interception that ended the game. After being up for a majority of the game, the 49ers allowed the Chargers to rally back in the game and couldn’t hold them off.Cardinals 18 - 49ers 15Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty ImagesThe next loss that probably still keeps Shanahan up at night is probably the second Cardinals’ loss, where the Cardinals took the lead late in the fourth quarter and that was the difference in the game. With 11:06 remaining in the fourth quarter, the Cardinals had only scored three points, were showing no signs of life and were down two possessions to the 49ers. That’s when it flipped, as the Cardinals scored two touchdowns, with no response from the 49ers and it all ended on a third-and-goal pass to wide out Christian Kirk to seal the game with 1:42 left in the game. The 49ers’ fourth-quarter offense was pathetic and something Shanahan would probably want back if he could go back in time.Giants 27 - 49ers 23Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty ImagesThe Monday Night Football showdown against the Giants at Levi’s Stadium is surely one the 49ers coach would want to avenge. With 2:46 left in the game, the 49ers were up 23-20, kicking the ball back to quarterback Eli Manning and Co. The Giants had not shown life all season long and with the 49ers’ home crowd behind them, most expected the defense to be able to stop Manning. With 53 seconds left, Manning was able to find wide receiver Sterling Shepard for a touchdown. Quarterback Nick Mullens tried to drive the ball down for the 49ers, but it was too little too late. Playing the hypothetical game doesn’t help now, but it gives great insight into what Shanahan thinks the 49ers are capable of doing late in these games. It’s been the story of the 49ers’ seasons since Lynch and Shanahan took over — the late-game collapses. Hopefully in 2019, quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and Shanahan don’t leave these 50-50 games in the air and are able to seal the deal late.