The San Francisco 49ers have been banged-up throughout the season, and it doesn’t appear that it will be much different with the NFC’s top seed up for grabs on Saturday against the Seattle Seahawks.
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Defensive stars Nick Bosa and Fred Warner remain on injured reserve for San Francisco, as are defensive end Mykel Williams, a first-round pick in 2025, and season-opening starter at left guard Ben Bartch.
On top of those injuries, the 49ers listed five players as questionable for the showdown against the Seahawks: left tackle Trent Williams, tight end George Kittle, wide receiver Ricky Pearsall, defensive end Keion White and cornerback Upton Stout. All five are starters or play a significant role for the team.
ESPN 49ers beat reporter Nick Wagoner shared Williams and White are the two questionable 49ers he believes are most unlikely to suit up against Seattle when he joined Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk to preview the matchup on Friday.
White, who has 19 pressures and 1.5 sacks in eight games this season, is dealing with a groin injury. Wagoner noted the third-year pass rusher did participate in practice a bit for the first time this week on Thursday, but since San Francisco didn’t do any work at full speed this week, it’s tough to tell which way he is trending.
As for Williams, Wagoner would be surprised if the 12-time Pro Bowler and four-time All-Pro is able to overcome his hamstring injury and play. The 37-year-old Williams was injured during San Francisco’s first offensive snap in its Week 17 win over the Chicago Bears.
“Obviously, that’s the big injury there that we’re all kind of keeping an eye on,” Wagoner said of the 15-year NFL veteran. “This is the first soft-tissue injury of his career, a long career, and so he doesn’t really know exactly how it’s going to react. He doesn’t know exactly what the recovery process is.”
The Williams injury is certainly a big one for the 49ers. However, Wagoner noted they were still able to put up 42 points on Chicago last week while Williams missed essentially the entire game.
Wagoner said Williams has made some progress this week and looked better walking around the team facility this week than he did after the hamstring cropped up on Sunday. But even if Williams were able to tough it out and play, he doesn’t believe it’s a risk the Niners would be willing to take.
“The other complicating factor is, yes, this is a huge, huge game for both teams here, but it is not an end-your-season game if you lose. So there is risk there if you play Trent Williams,” Wagoner said. “What if he has a set back and now you’re losing him for the games that could eliminate you and end your season? That’s a tough needle to thread. My guess is you probably won’t see him. I wouldn’t completely rule it out. I’d never say never, but I think he’s the one that’s the most questionable out of that group.”
Hear the full conversation at this link or in the audio player in this story. Listen to Brock and Salk weekdays from 6-10 a.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.
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