49ers wide receiver Joshua Morgan is expected to undergo surgery on Monday to repair his fractured right ankle. Morgan suffered the injury late in the 49ers 48-3 blowout of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The 49ers had a 4th and 3 on the Bucs 20 and decided to go for it with rookie QB Colin Kaepernick rather than kick the field goal.
The length of Morgan's absence has yet to be determined. If the injury is bad enough the team could conceivably place him on injured reserve, thus ending his 2011 season. However, if they think he can return a little later in the season they would not make that move since it is irreversible during the current season.
While they figure that out, they do need to find a receiver for this coming Sunday's game against the Detroit Lions. They currently have three healthy receivers in Michael Crabtree, Ted Ginn Jr. and Kyle Williams. Braylon Edward is still recovering from his own knee surgery back in late September. He is expected back after the week seven bye, but it will be interesting to see if he works his way back before then.
In the meantime, the team has a variety of wide receiver options to consider. They could promote Joe Hastings or John Matthews from their practice squad. They could sign a Dominique Zeigler or Kevin Jurovich who were in camp but didn't make the final roster. Or they could go for a free agent with no experience in the system. Terrell Owens has come up in fan conversation but the odds of that happening are incredibly slim. Zeigler or one of the practice squad guys would seem to be the favorite.
For more on Morgan's injury and the 49ers, check out Niners Nation.