San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan spoke with reporters today via a conference call and had some good news when it comes to the injury to offensive tackle Trent Williams. He did suffer a shoulder injury but is only considered day-to-day, and may not miss time.
Surprisingly, another player who may be available for Sunday's game against the Arizona Cardinals is quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, who suffered a calf contusion during Sunday's 28-21 loss to the Seattle Seahawks. He will be re-evaluated over the next couple of days.
"It does mean he has a chance [to play on Sunday]," Shanahan said. "It wasn't as bad as what we thought it might have been. Seeing him today, he's in a lot of pain, still sore. Hopefully, by the time he comes in Wednesday, if it's getting better, then he'll have a good chance. ... If it hasn't improved at all by Wednesday, it will probably be a little bit longer."
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The positive news surrounding Williams and Garoppolo (considering how bleak things looked on Sunday) is a nice change for Shanahan.
"I've left feeling good about stuff, about injuries, from what I hear on Sunday, and I've come in on Monday morning, and it hasn't been that way," Shanahan shared. "And vice-versa. I try to never fully go one way or the other until we find out for sure. At least we know that it's nothing too serious to where it will be long-term, which was the possibility.
"I think Trent, we got a little bit better news than Jimmy, but Jimmy, we've just got to see how it reacts here in the next two days. But both of them were definitely better news today than the feeling we had last night."
Garoppolo believes the injury occurred during the first series of the game and got worse as the game went on. By the end of halftime, the veteran quarterback knew he couldn't go. Rookie quarterback Trey Lance started the second half.
"It sucked," Garoppolo told reporters after the game. "In between series, I could feel it tightening up and everything. I thought I could gut it out. I tried to for the first half, but it's just tough. I don't know. I've been in this situation too many times. It's getting real old."
Garoppolo is in his fifth season with San Francisco, and injuries have forced him to miss games in two of his past three seasons. The quarterback has completed 66.1 percent of his passes for 925 yards with five touchdowns and two interceptions this season. His 96.9 passer rating is his second-highest (102.0 in 2019) over the past five seasons.
If Garoppolo ends up having to miss time, Lance will start in his place. That would mean the rookie's first start would come this weekend against the undefeated and NFC West-leading Cardinals. Meanwhile, the 2-2 49ers sit in last place within the division.
