Trent Williams’ Ankle Injury may be Worse Than the 49ers Initially Thought
Star left tackle Trent Williams was not a participant at 49ers practice on Wednesday.
Usually Williams gets the Wednesday practice off with a vet day, but it is still his ankle injury that is holding him out. In fact, Williams’ ankle injury may be worse than initially thought after how Kyle Shanahan described it today at his press conference.
“He’s got a lot of history in there with stuff,” said Shanahan on Williams’ ankle. “It didn’t show up as a high or anything like that, but when you’ve had that over your career, there’s a number of things that with how it’s taking longer than expected to heal, it’s more than a low.”
Well that is fairly alarming that it is taking longer than expected. I suspect Shanahan does know what exactly is wrong with Williams’ ankle, but he doesn’t want to share it. Either way, it is like he said, Williams has been dealing with plenty of injuries on his ankle throughout his career.
It’s been his main injury since he joined the 49ers three years ago. At the end of last season, Williams was in a boot during the 49ers exit interviews. A lot of wear and tear is on that ankle of his, so it is better to slow play his return even if he is trending in the right direction, which doesn’t sound like it.
Jaylon Moore will get the start again at left tackle again should Williams continue to remain out of practice this week. He has surprisingly done a fine job there. He’s not registering penalties, isn’t a liability in pass protection, and is solid in run blocking. Plenty of backup offensive tackles falter when they have to start, but Moore hasn’t.
For the 49ers’ sake, they better hope that he sustains this level of play, especially since he might have to continue to start a little while longer. The rest of the offensive line has been a worry for the 49ers for much of the season. The last thing they need is for Moore to add to it, which is why it has been great that he has been doing a fine job in the stead of Williams.
