Trent Williams returns to 49ers practice Thursday

Nov 9, 2023, 1:30 PM | Updated: 1:48 pm

ARLINGTON, TEXAS - JANUARY 16: Trent Williams #71 of the San Francisco 49ers runs onto the field against the Dallas Cowboys prior to an NFL wild-card playoff football game at AT&T Stadium on January 16, 2022 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images)

(Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images)

BY AMILIANO FRAGOSO

Sports Editor/Writer

While it’s only one day, Trent Williams appears to be trending in the right direction to play this Sunday.

The San Francisco 49ers star left tackle was seen practicing during the media portion of Thursday’s session.

Williams has been in and out of practice the last few weeks, dealing with an ankle sprain from Week 6. The Texas native will still need to be assessed by the training staff before Week 10, but his presence on Thursday is encouraging nonetheless.

#49ers OT Trent Williams (ankle) IS in uniform and participating in early open portion of Thursday’s practice. pic.twitter.com/ADjWAImX46

— Nick Wagoner (@nwagoner) November 9, 2023

Trent Williams, 35, suffered the ailment in the Cleveland Browns game, playing injured for most of the second half. Upon testing after the game, the 49ers were relieved to see a mild sprain for their offensive lineman. But after missing two games and having a bye week, Williams was still banged up enough to miss Monday and Wednesday’s practices, a sign that the injury is a bit more serious.

“Yeah, I think obviously there is [more to the injury]. I mean, he’s got a lot of [injury] history in there with stuff. It didn’t show up as a high [ankle sprain] or anything like that. But when you’ve had that over your career, there’s a number of things with how it’s taken longer than expected to heal, it’s more than a low [ankle sprain],” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan explained Wednesday.

Williams in the middle of his 13th season in the NFL, logging 177 games in his career. And while the future hall-of-famer is still at the top of his game, the aging veteran is more susceptible to lingering soft-tissue injuries.

Despite that, his participation in practice Thursday is a good sign of his availability in the near future.