Niners Nation
The San Francisco 49ers have their biggest game of the season coming up, as they’re fighting for the No. 1 seed against the Seattle Seahawks in primetime on Saturday Night at Levi’s Stadium.
Heading into the week, the 49ers had a couple of players dealing with injuries. Cornerback Renardo Green had missed last week’s game with an ongoing neck injury. George Kittle also missed last week after dealing with an ankle injury. And Trent Williams left last week with a hamstring injury and did not return.
On a short week, those injury situations are always magnified. But Green has been a full-go in practice all week and Kittle has been adamant that he’s playing, despite being listed as questionable after being a limited participant in practice all week long.
For Williams, though, the situation is different. The star left tackle has been a DNP all three days of practice this week with the hamstring injury. The 49ers still listed him as questionable, and head coach Kyle Shanahan said there was still a path for him to play when speaking to the media on Friday.
But NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport shed a more pessimistic perspective on the situation, believing that Williams is not expected to play on Saturday against Seattle.
“[Williams] hasn’t practiced at all this week, dealing with a hamstring injury,” Rapoport said on Good Morning Football on Friday. “Hard to imagine he is out there with no practice on a short week. I guess crazier things have happened, but to me, I’m not expecting the big man to be out there.”
If Williams is out, backup tackle Austin Pleasants will make his first career start. Pleasants was thrown into the action last week against the Chicago Bears after Williams’s injury and received praise from head coach Kyle Shanahan both after the game and during the week.
In addition to Williams, the following players are questionable: defensive lineman Keion White (groin), cornerback Upton Stout (concussion), Kittle (ankle), and wide receiver Ricky Pearsall (knee/ankle).
A 12-time Pro Bowler and three-time All-Pro, Williams has been extremely durable this year, playing in 16 games in his age-37 season. He was already named a Pro Bowler and could very well earn the Protector of the Year award, given out to the best lineman in the NFL. So, it will certainly be a tough blow for the 49ers against a tough Seattle defensive front if he is indeed out.
