San Francisco 49ers injury curse strikes again as star rookie De’Zhaun Stribling limps off early in NFL debut

Rookie wide receiver De’Zhaun Stribling had to be helped off the field after suffering a worrying-looking injury just minutes into his NFL debut.The San Francisco 49ers have become notorious for their bad injury luck – not helped by wild conspiracy theories about the electrical substation alongside their practice facility – and Stribling is the latest player to be struck down.The exciting second-round pick out of Ole Miss was playing in his first regular season game against the Rams in Melbourne when he went down despite receiving no contact from any opponent.Stribling was running a route when he turned away from a defender and immediately felt pain in his left leg, falling to the ground and clutching at the back of his calf.Trainers rushed to his aid on the field at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, before he was helped into the blue tent and then carted back to the locker room shortly after.Fans on social media speculated that the injury looked Achilles-related, but there is no diagnosis yet and reporters simply labeled it a ‘foot or ankle injury’ in initial posts. Worryingly, that was the second injury Stribling suffered in the game, with the 23-year-old Hawai’i native earlier taking another trip to the blue tent before being cleared.The team has high hopes for Stribling, who went into the season opener against the Rams as WR2 behind Deebo Samuel.He had enjoyed a huge camp and very impressive preseason, but his progress has now been immediately halted by the Week 1 injury.At halftime in the game, he was officially ruled out by the team and will undergo further testing to identity the extent of the injury.