"Kinlaw ended up having his surgery," Shanahan told reporters. "They went in there, looked at the stuff. He'll end up going on IR. He'll be out this year. I think we'll have an announcement on it. There's a lot of things that went into it, that they found and things like that, but I think the good news is they feel they solved the problem."
Kinlaw initially sustained the knee injury on December 20, 2020, against the Dallas Cowboys. He had multiple procedures during the offseason but also had setbacks. As a result, Kinlaw was never able to get back to 100 percent.
Added Shanahan: "Obviously, it hurts that he's not going to be with us this year but just talking to the doctor, not me personally, but John [Lynch] and our doctors talking to them, he feels that he found the issue, and thinks that will be good news for us next year."
San Francisco drafted Kinlaw (6-5, 319) out of South Carolina with the No. 14 overall pick last year. He registered eight tackles and a quarterback hit through four games this season.
Kinlaw, 24, has recorded 41 tackles, 1.5 sacks, four passes defensed, an interception, and a touchdown in 18 game appearances (16 starts) through his two NFL seasons.
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