The San Francisco 49ers nearly escaped MetLife Stadium without any injuries. Then rookie defensive end Mykel Williams went down.<\/p>\n
Head coach Kyle Shanahan immediately after the game told reporters the club feared a torn ACL for the No. 11 overall pick. That was confirmed Monday when Shanahan spoke with reporters on a conference call.<\/p>\n
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Shanahan said the knee injury came with additional damage, but overall there was some optimism about Williams’s long-term recovery.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe there was a lateral meniscus also,” Shanahan said. “For however it’s worded, it was a good one. I mean, it wasn’t perfect because there was a lateral meniscus. But, they feel good about it. He’ll come back with, his career will be fine from it. It’ll heal great.\u201d<\/p>\n
Williams was the defensive line’s leader in snaps played at 385 while starting all nine games he played. He posted one sack and 20 tackles, and his presence helped bolster a 49ers run defense that was dreadful a season ago. There’s still some development for Williams to undergo, but Shanahan had a positive early review of Williams overall.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’m really happy with Mykel,” Shanahan said. “I would do the exact same thing over again. I just hurt for him. I was loving watching him battle through all this stuff. He battled to get back in the season after an injury in training camp. He’s been playing a long time since then. You know, I thought he was a guy who kind of needed a Bye Week more than anyone. So, I’m just really disappointed that he is not able to really continue developing through this year because I believe we got a hell of a player who’s going to really figure this out in the run game and the pass game. He still will, but I hurt for him that he isn’t going to do that over the next half of this year.\u201d<\/p>\n
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It’s unclear how long Williams will be out, although the timing of his injury indicates he may not be ready for Week 1 of the 2026 season. Either way, the 49ers would be wise to play it slow with Williams after selecting him with the 11th overall pick in this year’s draft. He’s a key cog in their future and ensuring he’s fully healthy once he returns will be paramount.<\/p>\n
A good early prognosis is a great sign for the 49ers.<\/p>\n
More 49ers: Best performances from 49ers’ Week 9 win vs. Giants<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: 49ers DE Mykel Williams knee injury update from Kyle Shanahan<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The San Francisco 49ers don’t fear any long-term effects of the knee injury Mykel Williams suffered vs. the New York Giants.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":116294,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[14,4423,1679,12],"class_list":["post-116293","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl","tag-kyle-shanahan","tag-lateral-meniscus","tag-mykel-williams","tag-san-francisco-49ers"],"yoast_head":"\n