When the 49ers were dealing with critical injuries, it was another matter when he was being abused. Because despite all the attention given to stars Brock Purdy and Christian McCaffrey, the 49ers’ real offense is their left tackle, and the team simply can’t afford Trent Williams to make the postseason.
Williams sat out Monday’s loss to Baltimore with a groin injury. Things got worse when backup Jaylon Moore suffered a concussion, and even worse when Williams’ partner on the left side of the line, Aaron Banks, suffered a toe injury.
Of course, a groin injury can be complicated and its severity difficult to measure. “He tried to come back,” Shanahan said in the postgame press conference. “Coach didn’t think it was a good idea, so we’ll do an MRI tomorrow and see how it goes.”
Williams tried to calm the waters in the locker room after the game. “I’m good,” Williams told multiple reporters, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. “I know you want to ask me about the injury. I can handle it.” But again, Williams will need a day off and an MRI to realize how bad the injury is. Trent Williams injury: 49ers struggle without him There should be no doubting the gravity of the situation should the 49ers lose Williams in the postseason.
A Pro Bowl left tackle for 10 straight years, he was a mainstay on San Francisco’s line. Despite being 35 years old, he is still the No. 2 left tackle in the NFL, according to Pro Football Focus’ rating system. Williams has a PFF grade of 85.8 this year. In the last three seasons, he was the number one player in the league.
Even worse, we saw what the 49ers look like when the offense tries to survive an injury to Trent Williams. Williams was injured in Week 6 against Cleveland when he sprained his ankle but played through the pain. The 49ers lost the game scoring only 17 points. He also sat out Weeks 7 and 8 against the Vikings and Bengals, and the 49ers lost both games, scoring 17 points each.
Ronde Barber: “What if Trent Williams got some MVP love?” Football Hall of Famer Ronde Barber looked at what happened to the 49ers in their loss to the Ravens and saw a team that looked a lot like that losing streak. Speaking about The 33rd Team, Barber said there is evidence that maybe Williams should be the one getting the “MVP love.” “We ask ourselves, how does this happen to a team that has been so good offensively all year?” The barber said. ”
I’ll give you one guy. We’re talking about Brock Purdy being the MVP, and we’re talking about Christian McCaffrey getting MVP honors. How about Trent Williams getting some MVP love from this side – we all know they’ve only scored 17 points in all three of those three losing games over the years. ”
The one constant was that Trent Williams got hurt, he was out of the football game. When he finished that football game, Brock Purdy became the version of Brock Purdy that we saw in the three-game losing streak. According to Barber, there is simply no room for Trent Williams to get hurt if the 49ers want to reach the Super Bowl. ”
Take what you will from that, except the bottom line: Trent Williams has to play in San Francisco to be as good as he can be,” he added.
Leave a Reply