Niners Nation
The San Francisco 49ers officially placed Mykel Williams on the Injured Reserve on Saturday. On Thursday, defensive coordinator Robert Saleh said Williams was “made of the right stuff” following his injury:
The good news but bad news is he has also got players like [DL] Nick Bosa to lean on who are going through the same thing that he is with regards to recovery. He has [S Malik] Mustapha from last year going through that recovery. The good news for Mykel, he’s built the right way, he’s made of the right stuff. There’s no doubt in my mind that he’s going to come back next year as good as he was this year and continue to improve as he develops as a player.
With Williams out, the 49ers elevated defensive linemen Clelin Ferrell and preseason fan favorite Sebastian Valdez from the practice squad. Valdez is more of a pass rusher/disruptive player, so we’ll see if he brings anything to the table for a defense that can use all of the help it can get.
Valdez’s elevation is not a good sign for Week 5 hero Alfred Collins’s status. Collins did not practice on Friday with a hip injury.
Ben Bartch was activated from the Injured Reserve. Head coach Kyle Shanahan was non-committal about Bartch returning to the lineup as a starter at left guard on Friday, saying, “expect him to be activated and back up” and “he should be in uniform,” but wouldn’t confirm Bartch would start. We might have to wait until pre-game warmups to find out whether Bartch will start.
