Niners' Arik Armstead targets training camp return from surgery

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- More than two months ago, San Francisco 49ers defensive tackle Arik Armstead tore the meniscus in his right knee in a win against the Philadelphia Eagles.

The injury happened on the second snap of that Dec. 3 victory in Philadelphia. Armstead finished the game despite not being "all the way myself," but he did not play again until Jan. 20, when the Niners hosted the Green Bay Packers in an NFC divisional-round game.

Throughout that down time, Armstead was listed on the injury report with knee and foot injuries, but the belief had been that plantar fasciitis in his foot was the bigger problem. As Armstead cleaned out his locker Tuesday, he clarified that while the foot was an issue, the meniscus was the root of the problem.

"I thought my season was over with after the Philly game," Armstead said. "I tore my meniscus and didn't know if I was going to be able to come back and put in a lot of hard work to get back for the playoffs."

Armstead battled through the injury in the Niners' three postseason games, playing 148 snaps and posting 11 tackles, a sack, a fumble recovery and seven quarterback pressures.

The injury will force him to have offseason surgery in the coming days with a lengthy recovery he hopes will have him ready some time in the range of training camp in late July or August.

"We'll see," Armstead said. "The time window should be around then for training camp, so we'll see how it goes. But that's what I was dealing with and I wouldn't have missed this run for anything. I'm glad I was able to get back and help my team get to the Super Bowl and try to win one. Like I said, our team is too special and I wouldn't have missed that for anything."

As the longest-tenured Niners player, Armstead is under contract for next season at a cap charge of more than $28.3 million. It would be his 10th season with the team after it used the No. 17 overall pick on him in the 2015 NFL draft.

49ers general manager John Lynch revealed Tuesday that Armstead wasn't the team's only defensive tackle playing through pain at the end of the season. Javon Hargrave had a torn ligament in his thumb that he played through as well.

"He decided we had too rare of an opportunity," Lynch said. "That's the thing that people don't see at home, the sacrifice people are making."