-
Nick Wagoner, ESPN Staff WriterDec 23, 2024, 07:58 PM ET
- Nick Wagoner is an NFL reporter at ESPN. Nick has covered the San Francisco 49ers and the NFL at ESPN since 2016, having previously covered the St. Louis Rams for 12 years, including three years (2013 to 2015) at ESPN. In his 10 years with the company, Nick has led ESPN’s coverage of the Niners’ 2019 Super Bowl run, Colin Kaepernick’s protest, the Rams making Michael Sam the first openly gay player drafted to the NFL, Sam’s subsequent pursuit of a roster spot and the team’s relocation and stadium saga. You can follow Nick via Twitter @nwagoner
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The San Francisco 49ers‘ ever-growing list of players lost for the season because of injury added at least three more Monday, with the offensive line bearing the brunt of coach Kyle Shanahan’s updates.
One day after his team was officially eliminated from postseason contention, Shanahan announced that left tackle Trent Williams (left ankle), left guard Aaron Banks (right MCL) and backup tackle Jaylon Moore (quad) will miss the team’s final two games.
Banks and Moore suffered their injuries in Sunday’s loss to the Miami Dolphins, while Williams has been out since a Nov. 17 loss to the Seattle Seahawks. As recently as last week, Williams was spotted using a scooter to keep his left ankle elevated to maneuver around the locker room.
“(He) hasn’t been able to improve enough to get him out there,” Shanahan said. “We don’t see that happening enough in these two weeks, especially the situation we’re in.”
Editor’s Picks
1 Related
That trio of players ruled out for the season could be expanded to a quartet or quintet depending on how the next few days go for linebacker Dre Greenlaw (calf/Achilles) and offensive lineman Spencer Burford (calf). Greenlaw departed the Miami game after just four plays with right calf soreness.
Greenlaw underwent further testing, the initial results of which didn’t indicate anything more than soreness, according to Shanahan. But given Greenlaw’s series of stops and starts since he returned from a torn left Achilles against the Los Angeles Rams on Dec. 12, it might be in his best interest to shut it down for the rest of the season.
“My gut is most likely that he’ll end up being shut down,” Shanahan said. “But I’ve got to wait to talk to Dre on that and we’ll still make sure to see exactly how he is doing because right now we just have it as just soreness. But that’ll definitely be a decision that I’ll leave up to Dre depending on what his health is.”
Burford has been the Niners’ top backup on the interior, but the attrition at tackle forced him into the game Sunday on the left side in place of Moore. Shanahan said Burford was also dealing with calf soreness but was still undergoing testing Monday afternoon to determine the severity.
Regardless, the 49ers will need to make some additional roster moves just to get by on the offensive line. Nick Zakelj replaced Banks against the Dolphins and would likely be first up Monday night against the Detroit Lions, while left tackle will depend on how Burford recovers and if recently signed lineman Austen Pleasants can get up to speed. The Niners just added him to the roster on Saturday.
“When you get to these points where you’re down pretty low on it, you got to get five guys out there, so we’d have to make the decision on some possible guards too,” Shanahan said. “So, hopefully we’ll get some good news on Burford, but if not, we’ll probably have to add some people from other people’s practice squads. I’m sure we’ve been working on that already, but it’s a little too early to say.”
One player who could be back against the Lions is rookie running back Isaac Guerendo. Guerendo didn’t play against the Dolphins because of a hamstring injury. Shanahan said Guerendo is expected to resume practicing when the team returns to the field on Thursday.
