49ers notes: Reid leaves with third concussion of two-year career

The 49ers had a 21-point halftime lead Saturday night, but there was some bad first-half news.

After sustaining two concussions in a two-month span as a rookie in 2013, safety Eric Reid sustained his third concussion in the first quarter of a 38-35 overtime loss to San Diego.

Reid has started the first 31 games of his career, but the 49ers (7-8) will presumably proceed cautiously given his medical history in advance of their regular-season finale against Arizona on Dec. 28.

Reid was replaced by Craig Dahl, who was beaten for a 15-yard touchdown in the second quarter.

And Reid wasnt the only loss for a defense that entered the game with inside linebacker Nick Moody making his first NFL start, defensive tackle Tony Jerod-Eddie and outside linebacker Aaron Lynch making their third career starts and nose tackle Quinton Dial making his sixth start.

Outside linebacker Aaron Lynch (ankle), cornerback Perrish c*x (undisclosed) and Aldon Smith (head) all left the game before returning. Smith was being evaluated for a possible concussion when the Chargers scored the game-tying touchdown on Philip Rivers 11-yard toss to Malcom Floyd with 29 seconds left.

Rivers completed 24 of 40 passes for 273 yards with three touchdowns and one interception after halftime.

Like all season long, the next man has to step up, c*x said. You either make it or you dont. Like I said, I dont really know what happened in the back end because I came out (for a while), but its just tough to lose.

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In other injury news, cornerback Leon McFadden (concussion), special-teamer Bubba Ventrone (groin) and wide receivers Bruce Ellington (hamstring) and Brandon Lloyd (hip) exited early.

Wideout Michael Crabtree, who was limited in practice during the week because of a knee injury, returned late after he didnt play for most of the first three quarters. Crabtrees lone catch, a five-yarder, came on the first play of overtime.

He didnt practice a lot all week, Jim Harbaugh said. Tried to go on it and wasnt playing early in the game and then Brandon Lloyd went down and so did Bruce Ellington, so he came back in the game.

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Left tackle Joe Staley was called for a personal foul after San Diego defensive tackle Corey Liuget recovered a fumble by Colin Kaepernick in the end zone to cut the 49ers lead to 28-21 late in the third quarter.

Staley, who is in the large end-zone scrum, was called for illegal formation on the play.

What he did he do to get the personal foul? Said Staley: I told the ref he was terrible at his job.

Those exact words? Im paraphrasing, Staley said.

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Running back Frank Gores 52-yard touchdown run on the games first play was his longest scoring run since he had a 64-yarder against the Colts on Nov. 1, 2009.

It jumpstarted a performance that included 158 yards Gores most since 2009 on a season-high 26 carries.

Gore pointed to an offensive line that returned right tackle Anthony Davis, who returned after missing the previous four games with a concussion.

For the first time in a long time, we had our whole group together, Gore said. They did a great job. They were physical.

Gore became the only player this season to have a rushing and receiving touchdown of at least 50 yards. He had a 55-yard scoring catch against the Eagles on Sept. 28.

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Thanks to Gore and Colin Kaepernick (151 yards, 7 carries), the 49ers had a franchise-record 355 rushing yards.

Kaepernicks 90-yard touchdown run in the third quarter was the second-longest in NFL history by a quarterback. Oaklands Terrelle Pryor had a 93-yarder in 2013.

Kaepernicks run was the second-longest in franchise history. Garrison Hearst had a 96-yard touchdown run in 1998.

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Ellington became the first 49ers rookie since running back Amp Lee in 1992 to have a rushing and receiving touchdown in the same game. In the second quarter, Ellington caught an 8-yard touchdown pass before adding a 1-yard scoring run on a fly sweep.

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The 49ers fell to 3-4 at Levis Stadium this season. They were 21-4-1 in their last 26 games at Candlestick Park.

Twitter: @Eric_Branch

Source: http://blog.sfgate.com/49ers/2014/12/20/49ers-notes-reid-leaves-with-third-concussion-of-two-year-career/