The 49ers on Monday placed cornerback Chris Davis on injured reserve and signed former Philadelphia Eagles cornerback JaCorey Shepherd to a two-year deal, the club announced.
Davis sustained a torn ACL in his right knee Thursday night in the 49ers’ 33-21 loss to the Arizona Cardinals, a league source told CSNBayArea.com. Davis was injured on a kickoff return in the third quarter. He also served as one of the team’s nickel backs.
Shepherd, who is listed at 5 foot 11, 199 pounds, has a history with 49ers coach Chip Kelly.
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The Kansas product was a sixth-round draft pick of the Eagles in 2015. He was originally considered a candidate to play the nickel position for the Eagles. But Shepherd missed his entire rookie season due to a torn ACL in his right knee, which he sustained during training camp. He returned to the Eagles this summer for training camp. The club released him on Sept. 3. Shepherd signed with the Eagles’ practice squad to open the season and was waived on Sept. 27.
Davis appeared in four games and recorded two tackles and a half-sack.
Cornerback Jimmie Ward, who opened the season as the starter, is expected to be out of action through the bye week with a right quadriceps injury. Tramaine Brock and Rashard Robinson have started the past two games at cornerback with Keith Reaser playing the nickel position on passing downs.
Rookie Will Redmond, a third-round draft pick, is also on injured reserve, but he is strong candidate to return at some point this season.