The San Francisco 49ers were without their lethal weapon, fullback Kyle Juszczyk, in their narrow 32-29 win over the defending champions, the Seattle Seahawks. He seemed to have been missed by Sports Illustrated’s Grant Cohn, who had tweeted about Juszczyk.
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Cohn replied to a tweet from ESPN’s Mina Kimes that read: “One of the things that jumped out to me, outside of Purdy + Evans’ connection on the go ahead drive….SF ran the ball on Seattle in a way we don’t usually see–58% success rate btwn CMC and Black. This Niners ground game is so much better than it was last year.”
“Without Juszczyk?? Impossible,” Cohn wrote.
“Grant how about you stop being obsessed with my husband. That’s my job ❤️,” Juszczyk’s wife, Kristin Juszczyk, fired back.
Previously, during the game, Cohn had tweeted about how he “didn’t think it was possible” for the Niners to have such a good game on the ground without Juszczyk.
The Niners’ run game wasn’t as efficient without Juszczyk, but it wasn’t disappointing either. They rushed for a total of 94 yards, and Christian McCaffrey put up a solid 68 yards on 11 carries. Kaylon Black added 16 on six carries.
There was once a moment in the second quarter with the 49ers at a 2nd-and-two, where McCaffrey ran the ball. Three Seattle defenders latched onto him, but McCaffrey used his all might to power through those two yards.
Juszczyk had suffered an injury in the 24-14 win against the Denver Broncos. He got hit by Broncos defensive back Jahdae Barron in the fourth quarter with 14:03 left, leaving him with a knee injury and a bone bruise. The much-admired fullback’s absence was remarked on by fans in the Seattle game, especially because of how long Juszczyk has played for the team.
“We take it for granted because of how long Juice has been doing it and how he’s always out there,” Shanahan told Adam Copeland and Derek Papa of KNBR.
Per Adam Schefter, Juszczyk could be out for a few weeks. For now, the fullback has to rest up and carefully rehab the injury. Kristin, meanwhile, is making sure to keep his spirits up.
Kristin also showed her husband’s bruised face, while avoiding showing the knee, via a post on Instagram while supporting her husband.
“That boy has some strong ligaments 💪🏼.” Kristin wrote as the caption for the post. “When he got home, I said…so have you looked in the mirror yet?”
Kristin, who is a fashion designer by profession, has been an avid supporter of her husband and has been seen at many of his games since the two got married in July 2019. The duo first came across each other in 2014, which happened to be a Baltimore Ravens game, with Kristin being the one who sent a friend request on Facebook. And that’s how Kristin’s obsession with Juszczyk started.
We sit behind the bench, and I saw Kyle, and I was, like, ‘Oh my gosh, No. 44 is so handsome,'” she said on an episode of The Squeeze. “We were there for four hours. I remember leaving and being, like, ‘Wow, I think I just met my husband.'”
The couple got engaged in May 2017 and tied the knot in July 2019. She has since been a constant supporter for Juice during game days.
The couple watched the Seattle game from home. Meanwhile, the supporting crew at the game, which also included close friend and George Kittle’s wife, Claire, made a fun reel about missing Kristin at the game. Claire and the others jokingly held a “moment of silence” for the absence of their dear friend.
The 49ers will next face off against the Washington Commanders next week, who are last in the NFC East with a 1-3-1 record thus far.