San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan spoke with reporters via a conference call on Monday, the day after his team's 11-10 loss to the Denver Broncos. He provided injury updates from the game.
T Trent Williams
Trent Williams exited the game in the third quarter after suffering an ankle injury. Shanahan confirmed that the offensive tackle suffered a high-ankle sprain.
"He'll be out some time," the coach said.
Shanahan didn't want to be more specific regarding the recovery timeframe.
"The swelling's pretty bad," he explained. "Usually high ankles are usually, just for everyone, they say four to six [weeks], but sometimes it can be sooner. Sometimes it can be longer. So that's why I didn't give an exact date. It's too early to tell."
Jaylon Moore replaced Williams at left tackle after the injury. However, that only lasted one series as Moore surrendered two pressures in four pass-blocking snaps. Colton McKivitz replaced Moore for the remainder of the game.
Shanahan said the plan is to have McKivitz replace Williams while he recovers. The coach added that the 49ers don't plan to place Williams on injured reserve as of right now.
"We'll wait and see as this week goes, but we're hoping we don't have to," Shanahan said. "You only get so many of those, and we want to make sure we save those. The same thing we're kind of doing with [running back] Ty Davis-Price. But we'll see how it goes. If it ends up being towards longer, then we might have to make that decision."
LB Azeez Al-Shaair
Azeez Al-Shaair left the game with a knee injury late in the first half and did not return. Shanahan confirmed that the linebacker suffered an MCL sprain.
"It's very similar to what [running back] Elijah [Mitchell] did," Shanahan said. "Most likely won't require surgery but probably the same [timeframe]. We'll see. But I know we gave Elijah—our guess was around eight weeks."
Others
Tight end Ross Dwelley suffered a rib injury. He is considered day-to-day.
Shanahan noted that the 49ers are hopeful to get offensive lineman Daniel Brunskill (hamstring) back to practice this week.
The coach added that safety Jimmie Ward (hamstring) and cornerback Jason Verrett (knee) could start practicing after this week if the 49ers feel the two are ready to do so.
"It's looking like they'll have a chance to come back and start practicing," Shanahan said. "We don't have to play them that week when they do. We've got three weeks to make that decision, but hopefully, they'll be able to practice next week."
