SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Jim Harbaugh is shuffling his receiving corps yet again.
After losing Braylon Edwards to a knee injury that required surgery in Week 2, the San Francisco 49ers are down another star wideout heading into a key game Sunday at unbeaten Detroit (5-0).
Joshua Morgan is done for the season with a broken bone in his lower right leg. He underwent surgery Monday and had screws inserted to stabilize the injury, which Harbaugh insists isn't career-threatening.
San Francisco placed Morgan on the season-ending injured reserve list Wednesday after he was hurt late in a 48-3 victory against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last Sunday. To help fill the void, the Niners signed wideout Brett Swain to a one-year deal.
Harbaugh had been hopeful before the operation that Morgan might return late in the season or for a possible playoff game, but Morgan also had some stretching of the ligament and it was determined he would need all season to fully heal.
The 26-year-old Morgan, a fourth-year pro out of Virginia Tech, had 15 catches for 220 yards and one touchdown for the 49ers (4-1) this year. Five of those came in the rout of the Buccaneers.
"His career will be fine," Harbaugh said. "We'll give him the time to really get it healed right. We'd like to fill Josh's shoes, and they're big shoes to fill, especially where Josh was at and the level Josh Morgan was playing at when he got hurt. We're fired up that Brett's here and we'll get him going as fast as we can."
Michael Crabtree and Ted Ginn Jr. will handle the bulk of the load as starting wideouts.
The 26-year-old Swain was cut in late August by Green Bay. He has six career receptions for 72 yards, all last year. He missed much of 2009 with a knee injury.
"To lose (Morgan) hurts," quarterback Alex Smith said. "The next guy's got to step up."
Harbaugh had some concert-size speakers brought in this week and rock music blared during practice Wednesday to prepare San Francisco's players for the crowd noise at Ford Field. The stadium's record crowd of 67,861 fans Monday night helped rattle the Bears into nine false starts in Detroit's 24-13 win.
Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press