49ers coach Chris Foerster calls Trent Williams ‘genetic wonder’ despite only recently taking recovery serious

“Trent has really, since I remember when I left Washington, he changed his diet, really changed his body, started taking care of what he ate,” Forester explained. “But Trent has always recovered from injury faster. He always had very little treatment time, very little time doing the traditional, these things that [Juszczyk] Juice and those guys do. Trent just works out and trains and he’s just a phenom. But he is at that point now in his career that he does understand that those things become more important. So he has, Juice has kind of brought him along on a couple things and Trent realizes it does have some value.”

Trent Williams has always had some level of set rehab however.

The 36-year-old has been granted a veteran rest day every Wednesday to start the practice week for the 49ers. That extra day off the field allows the player to attack the rest of the practice periods, and the following contest that weekend. That hasn’t changed.

What has changed is what happens after practice.

Instead of train, practice, eat, repeat; Now, Williams is incorporating  red-light therapy and other forms of treatment that the big man formerly balked at. And why now after all these years you ask? Simply because he’s getting older and doesn’t recover like he used to a few years ago.

Still, that doesn’t take away from the fact that Trent Williams is a genetic marvel.

“He’s a genetic wonder and that vet day is what he needs. And then a couple little things here and there, but I think if he’s going to make it, and he’s talked about it, he’s not quite bouncing back as quick as he did six years ago,” Foerster continued. “It’s not that he’s not healthy, it’s just, you’re older and that ankle injury just doesn’t [bounce back], I get up in the morning, it’s a little bit harder every morning. Same thing with him. It just eventually, after all those snaps [things break down].

“Right now, he looks as good as I’ve seen. I keep saying that…It’s just how good he is. His is more genetic. He’s blessed with it more than it is what he’s doing.”

NFL players have been known to take extreme care of their bodies both in-season and in the offseason. Some, like 49ers tight end George Kittle, spend upwards of a $1 million in treatment and care. Being a professional athlete is never just about making it for gameday. It’s about maintaining longevity so that they can see years 12, 13, 14, rather than just years 5, 6 and 7.

Which is why Foerster commends the numerous 49ers stars that start taking care of their bodies early, now seeing Trent Williams finally get on the same page in Year 14.

“It starts now, it’s Year 1, then okay, ‘What are you going to look like in Year 6?’ And I’ve seen guys, veteran players, here’s the cliff and they fall right off it. If they don’t take care of themselves in the offseason and properly train and properly prepare their bodies and take care of themselves, and all of a sudden when their career ends that decline happens fast,” the coordinator said.