SANTA CLARA — Jimmie Ward’s collarbone injury in Thursday’s practice serves as a sobering reminder how precarious the 49ers’ secondary is. Again.
Reinforcements did not flood in this offseason, other than veteran cornerback Jason Verrett (who considered retirement after last season’s Achilles tear) and sixth-round draft pick Tim Harris.
Thus, the 49ers are banking on their incumbent defensive backs to rally from a disastrous and unproductive 2018 season, and those hopes are largely based on an upgraded pass rush and tweaks to the defensive scheme.
Once Ward re-signed on a one-year, prove-it deal, cornerback Richard Sherman said he wasn’t surprised the 49ers didn’t sign his former Seattle Seahawks teammate Earl Thomas, an All-Pro free safety who instead went to Baltimore.