Nick Bosa, Trent Williams Will Play Sunday vs. Chiefs; Shanahan Reflects on McCaffrey Connection

Christmas came early for the 49ers, at least on the injury front, as several key players will return to the game field Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs. The biggest names of the bunch are defensive end Nick Bosa (groin), left tackle Trent Williams (ankle), and safety Jimmie Ward (hand), all practicing this week to be off the injury report Friday afternoon.

Williams has missed the most consecutive time out of the group, suffering a high-ankle sprain Week 3 against the Denver Broncos. The initial thought was to put him on injured reserve for four games, but thankfully rest and recover did the trick, practicing the last two days before being cleared Friday to play in Week 7.

The 49ers have lacked a killer edge on the offensive line since his injury, happy to have him back in the fold this weekend.

On the defensive side of the ball, Bosa has only missed one game, dealing with a groin strain from Week 5’s clash against the Carolina Panthers. Unable to practice fully while on the road, the team opted to rest their star pass-rusher against the Atlanta Falcons last week. Now practicing fully to end the week, Bosa is 100% ready to go for Sunday afternoon.

Safety Jimmie Ward is also back, taking part in practice with a club over his broken left hand the last week. He suffered the fracture on the kickoff of the Carolina game, playing one defensive snap before coming out of the contest. He has missed most of the season, dealing with a significant hamstring injury sustained during the preseason, before returning momentarily in Week 5.

All the 49ers whose status was in question at beginning of this week are at Friday practice:

-Charvarius Ward
-Nick Bosa
-Trent Williams
-Mike McGlinchey
-Jimmie Ward
-Talanoa Hufanga
-Samson Ebukam
-Drake Jackson
-Tyler Kroft

Arik Armstead the only non-IR player not out there

— David Lombardi (@LombardiHimself) October 21, 2022

Right tackle Mike McGlinchey is also back in the lineup, dealing with a calf contusion that kept him out of practice Wednesday.

It can’t all be good news though as cornerback Charvarius Ward and S Talanoa Hufanga are questionable for Week 7. The former is dealing with a groin strain, while the latter is in the concussion protocol. Both players practiced in limited fashion Friday, helping their chances of seeing the field Sunday.

“Yeah, he’s got to pass one other step [in the protocol] tomorrow,” head coach Kyle Shanahan stated about Hufanga.

Speaking of Shanahan, the 49ers coach was happy as ever Friday after the team acquired running back Christian McCaffrey from the Carolina Panthers Thursday night.

“He’s a very good runner, so he’s gonna be good in everything. He also has very good hands. He also has separation ability in the pass game. And I also think he’s a guy just mentally, who can handle a lot, so the more guys can handle the more you put on them,” Shanahan said.

The connection stems deeper than just the gridiron as the Shanahan’s and McCaffrey’s were close during their upbringings in Denver. Kyle’s father, Mike, coached Christian’s father, Ed, while on the Broncos, leading the team two  Super Bowl victories in the late 90s. Now more than two and a half decades later, the two families are once again under the same building.

While some might expect Kyle to give an emotional reaction, that’s not his style. Instead focusing on the football, while showing admiration for his parents.

“I love his parents, I know Ed and [his wife Lisa] very well, knew them very well growing up, didn’t know Christian very well. He was so much younger than me. I knew him and his brothers were problems for my sister, who used to babysit them a lot,” Shanahan said with a smirk. “But it’s been cool just to hear about them back at home and stuff, talking to people from that area. Always hearing about the McCaffrey boys was just one after another. Winning state championships for the football team and never really realized how good they were going to be. But then watching Christian at Stanford and being like, wow, what everyone said was true. And then watching him in the NFL and I mean, the first thing I told Christian was, this is our plan all along. That’s why we wanted to build a D-Line and build our defense right away and we knew we’d get them five and a half years later.”

Now that Shanahan has him, the question remains: When will “CMC” see the field?

Hesitant to give a definitive answer Friday, the 49ers will use a wait-and-see approach with their new prized ballcarrier, wanted to make sure he can grasp the playbook a little first.

“Just talking to him like where it would he’d in the offense and stuff. I got to talk to other coaches. I mean, this happened last night, it’s not like everyone knew it was happening so it factors in to special teams, who we can get up, who’s down,” Shanahan explained. “Anyone can get up and have a limited package but what happens with an injury and stuff when someone has to go in and do everything, those are the things you got to really think through.”

49ers Game Status Report:

Out:

Arik Armstead (foot/ankle)

Questionable:

Charvarius Ward (groin)

Talanoa Hufanga (concussion)

Follow @AmilianoFragoso

Newsletter