The 49ers don't know when their their Hall of Fame left tackle's ankle will heal.
The team listed Trent Williams as out for the second game in a row on Friday. Head coach Kyle Shanahan said Williams' ankle hasn't healed the way the 49ers expected it would, which shouldn't come as a huge surprise considering Williams is 36. Still, we don't know the exact nature of his ankle injury, nor when it happened.
We know he injured his ankle at some point during the 49ers' Week 10 win against the Buccaneers because he popped up on the injury report the next day. That week, he didn't practice, but he could walk around the locker room with a slight limp, and so on Sunday the 49ers gave him a Toradol shot and he played in their Week 11 loss to the Seahawks.
Since then, Williams has been using a knee scooter to get around the locker room, which means he hasn't been putting any weight on his injured ankle. So he must have made it worse when he played injured against Seattle, and the pain must have set in after the Toradol wore off.
Since 2020 when the 49ers acquired Williams in a trade, their record without him is just 3-7. He's arguably their most valuable player because the talent gap between him and a backup offensive tackle is as big as the Grand Canyon. Last week, the 49ers rushed for just 44 yards and scored a mere 10 points without him on the field.
We'll see if they can do any better without him this week in Buffalo.
