The biggest hit the San Francisco 49ers have experienced this season is to their health. They are 5-0 with nine starters on their injured list.

Joe Staley — the six time Pro-Bowler and three time second team All-Pro offensive tackle — has been the most significant player lost to injury. Staley suffered a fracture left fibula against the Bengals on Sept. 15.

However, the good news is that coach Kyle Shanahan (who gets my vote for Coach of the Year as it stands) said Monday that Staley is close to returning, as is third-year cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon. According to NBC Sports, the Niners said in their latest injury update that Staley could be back as soon as the Week 7 home game against Carolina, while WItherspoon could return to the lineup by the Week 8 matchup at Arizona.

Witherspoon — who has been really good lining up parallel to future Hall of Famer Richard Sherman at CB — went down with a right foot strain against the Steelers on September 22 . Sherman could have been the tenth player on this list of injuries after leaving the game against the Rams early with a right arm injury, but the coach said he would most likely play this week and did not put him on the injured reserve list (with another “honorable mention” that escaped the IR Sunday: K’Waun Williams, who was examined for a hand injury).

Offensive tackle Mike McGlinchey and full back Kyle Juszczyk are out for four to six weeks with significant knee injuries, and the latter requires surgery. This means the pair will return until sometime between the Nov. 11 home game against Seattle or the Dec. 1 matchup at Baltimore.

SPORTS FIGURES WHO DIED IN 2019 – TRIBUTE SLIDESHOW 

Meanwhile, wide receivers Trent Taylor and rookie Jalen Hurd show that the injuries do not discriminate between defense or offense. Hurd has not played a snap in the NFL, but was chosen in the third round this year with a lot of promise after a decorated college career. Jason Verrett, Kentavius Street and Garrett Celek round out the list.

The 5-0 49ers play the new-look Washington Redskins on Sunday. The Redskins started the season 0-5; but after letting head coach Jay Gruden go last week, they beat the struggling Miami Dolphins under promoted coach Bill Calahan.

Hopefully, the Niners will have two of their main pieces back in time for their game against the surging Carolina Panthers, who have won the last four straight contests against good teams.

There’s no question that the Pittsburgh Steelers got one of the hardest schedules to begin the season. They will get tested even more now that defensive workhorse Stephon Tuitt went down with a season-ending injury on Sunday against the Los Angeles Chargers.

The Steelers won Sunday’s game by a score of 24-17. Tuitt — who signed a five-year, $60 million dollar extension in 2017 — was having a career year with 3.5 sacks during the first five games before he tore a pectoral muscle that will require surgery to fix. The defensive end’s teammates had much to say about the loss and the kind of year he was having.

Tyson Alualu said of Tuitt, “He was having his best year.”

“I think he could have played in the Pro Bowl,” claimed defensive coordinator Keith Butler.

“I thought Tuitt was having a heck of a year,” defensive lineman Cam Heyward added. “From the offseason to where he got here, he made a lot of progression. I was proud of him. I like to think he was having a Pro Bowl, All-Pro year.”

The Steelers have dealt with their star quarterback Ben Roethlisberger being out for the season after Week 2. Roethlisberger had led them to two Super Bowl titles and were hoping to compete for another this year. They have lost some close games to the 5-1 Seahawks and the 5-0 49ers, even without Roethlisberger; which shows the resilience of the team. Now, they will have to show even more.

SPORTS FIGURES WHO DIED IN 2019 – TRIBUTE SLIDESHOW 

Javon Hargrave is a nose tackle who filled in for Tuitt on Sunday, as did backup Alualu. Both Hargrave and Alualu played decently in Tuitt’s absence. However, the Chargers came back from 24-0 to score 17 unanswered points in the fourth quarter. We will have to wait and see in three weeks if Tuitt’s absence made a distance.

The Steelers are playing the Miami Dolphins on Sunday after a bye week. The Dolphins are 0-5 with no signs on improving this year, as they are missing quite a few pieces.