Don’t be surprised if you see Trent Williams rotated with Jaylon Moore on Monday.
Williams, the 49ers starting left tackle, just inked an extension with the team last week, but this was after missing the entirety of training camp. If he couldn’t go, that would mean Jalen Moore would be the 49ers left tackle.
Could Trent Williams’ conditioning be in question? 49ers offensive line coach and run game coordinator Chris Foerster hinted at the possibility.
“I’ve tried to purposely to let Jalen just rep the left side,” Foerster said in his Friday press conference. “Because I don’t know.”
Foerster brought up the 2020 COVID-19 season in a game against the Los Angeles Rams. The 49ers offense found themselves with a high amount of plays. A situation where Williams told Foerster he was “hanging on.”
“Is it going to be a rotation?” Foerster said. “I don’t know. We’ll see how Trent does after tomorrow [Saturday] and see exactly what happens. Hopefully, Trent can play it out. If he can’t, Jalen definitely has had a good camp, and he’s ready to go.”
Foerster clarified that it’s possible we could see Moore for at least a series to give Williams a breather.
On Saturday, Kyle Shanahan also echoed Foerster‘s comments. While Williams has improved day by day, Shanahan has a “we’ll see” attitude.
“You gotta watch it, you gotta talk to them,” Shanahan said. “I haven’t done this too much with a tackle. O-Linemen are different with rotating and stuff like skill positions. It also seems weird to just watch Trent sitting on the sideline next to us.”
Jaylon Moore had a bit of a shaky preseason to start things, but then again, the entire 49ers offensive line did. In his final preseason games, he looked much, much better when more of the first team was on the field. He’s no Trent Williams, but it could be worse. After all, it could be Zane Beadles.
“He’ll [Trent Williams] be honest with us on how he feels and I know Chris [Foerster] will be watching that a ton.”