Healthy Laken Tomlinson back working with 49ers’ first-team offense during OTAs

Guard Laken Tomlinson went down during the San Francisco 49ers' regular-season finale against the Los Angeles Rams on December 30. While the initial fear was that he suffered a torn ACL, Tomlinson and the coaching staff received better-than-expected news the next day. The veteran guard had suffered a torn MCL.

While no injury is considered good news, the recovery time for Tomlinson's MCL injury was estimated at about three months. That is significantly less rehab time than an ACL injury requires.

Tomlinson's injury also did not require surgery and the 16-game starter for the 49ers last year has been working with the first-team offense during organized team activities this week, according to a report from The Athletic.

While the 49ers have had to deal with several other injuries this offseason, Tomlinson is no longer among them.

The 49ers acquired Tomlinson via a trade with the Detroit Lions on August 31, 2017. San Francisco signed him to a three-year extension on June 22, 2018.

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General manager John Lynch told reporters in January that center Weston Richburg will miss the 49ers' entire offseason program. He sustained a knee injury last season during a Week 4 contest against the Los Angeles Chargers. While Richburg started 11 of the 12 games after that, his play was inconsistent, and he underwent surgery after the season to repair the injury.

"I think it affected his play late in the year," Lynch said via NBC Sports Bay Area. "He was having trouble anchoring. We decided to go in there and get the thing cleaned up. It's going to be an extensive rehab. He'll be right up until training camp. We feel comfortable that the end result is it will allow him to perform to the great ability that he does have."

The Athletic reports that former Atlanta Falcons offensive lineman Ben Garland is filling in at center with the first-team offense while Richburg recovers.