To open up Week 2, San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan held his weekly press conference to discuss injury updates for a number of players, further breakdown the team’s 32-19 victory over the New York Jets on “Monday Night Football” and briefly look ahead to the team’s upcoming road game versus the Minnesota Vikings.
Below are three takeaways from Shanahan’s address:
The 49ers All-Pro running back Christian McCaffrey is one of a handful of players that will continue to work through injuries in Week 2 of the season.
- RB Christian McCaffrey is dealing with a calf injury and Achilles tendonitis and is day-to-day
- OL Aaron Banks is day-to-day with a calf contusion
- WR Jauan Jennings is day-to-day with an ankle injury
- LB Dee Winters (ankle) and DL Yetur Gross-Matos (knee) have a “chance” at returning to practice this week
- S Talanoa Hufanga, who is working his way back from an ACL injury, will continue to work into practice and the head coach said he has a “chance” to play in Week 2
Shanahan offered insight into the nature of Achilles tendonitis and how it factored into the team’s decision not to have McCaffrey suit up on Monday night.
“That stuff comes and goes,” Shanahan said. “When it is acting up, it’s something you’ve got to be very careful about. Christian’s very diligent about that stuff. If it was a playoff game, he made it very clear to me, he believed he could go. But when you hear that type of stuff and it’s not a playoff game and it’s Week 1, especially when you’re dealing with the lower extremities like that, it was a tough decision.”
Rookie offensive lineman Dominick Puni impressed in his NFL regular season debut, carrying over his confident preseason play into Week 1 primetime football. Puni got the start at right guard playing 72 offensive snaps and allowed one pressure in his first outing.
“I thought it was a real good first game for him,” Shanahan said. “By no means was it perfect, but it’s how he’s been every day since he’s been here so far. I’ve talked about him a bunch here. He’s been this way in practice. He’s been this way in the preseason, and it looked the same in Week 1. It seems pretty consistent, pretty real about the guy.”
All-Pro left tackle Trent Williams, who missed the entirety of training camp and the preseason, returned to game action in remarkable fashion, playing 70 offensive snaps and allowing just one pressure per Pro Football Focus. There were question marks heading into Monday night how the 15-year veteran would look in his return, and Williams showed his ability to play at a high level in his first full week back.
“Watching him at that Tuesday practice and how he was by the Thursday practice gave us a good sign that he was going to be alright in the game,” Shanahan said. “We didn’t know how his wind was going to be. We knew he was in shape, but football shape is a totally different deal. I know we went on some long drives, so that became a challenge for him as we got closer to the end. But, I also think being able to run the ball that much also helps too.”
Williams explained how he was feeling after the matchup in a postgame interview with Omar Ruiz of the NFL Network.
“I had to go get an IV. I was cramping,” Williams said. “Other than that, it was pretty good. (We had) a couple long drives… (I had) adrenaline rushing. I have great teammates. We love competing. We love competing with each other, so it kept me going.”
