San Francisco 49ers All-Pro left tackle Trent Williams ended his holdout six days before the team’s season opener against the New York Jets.
The timing of his return gave Williams just three days of practice before the team takes the field Monday night. While the 36-year-old, 14-year veteran knows better than anyone what runway he needs to prepare for a regular season, there are still some questions about whether Williams will suit up Monday.
Offensive line coach Chris Foerster told reporters on Friday that he’s hopeful Williams can play, but there’s no firm plan for the left tackle spot yet.
“So, you’d like to think he’s going to play, but then again it could be an 80-play game and it could end up in a position where the guy can’t do it,” Foerster said. “So, is it going to be a rotation? I don’t know. We’ll see how Trent does after tomorrow and see exactly what happens. Hopefully Trent can play it out. If he can’t. Jaylon (Moore) definitely has had a good camp and is ready to go and how we orchestrate that, I’m not sure that we have to, we’ll see.”
The 49ers have another practice Saturday before a day off Sunday. They’ll determine then what Williams’s participation will look like Monday. He had full practices Thursday and Friday, which bodes well for his chances to at least start the game.
Moore held down the first-team left tackle spot for all of camp while Williams was out. While he may have had a good camp, the 49ers struggled with Moore in Williams’s role last season. They scored just 17 points in each of his two starts and their offensive efficiency plummeted. It’s unclear whether there’d be a similar effect in a rotation scenario, but the 49ers and Williams will likely do their best to ensure their All-Pro starts and plays the entire game.
