As the San Francisco 49ers gear up for their season opener against the New York Jets on "Monday Night Football," the team returned to the SAP Performance Facility for their first practice of the week on Tuesday morning, just six days out from the highly anticipated primetime matchup.
Wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk, running back Christian McCaffrey, and left tackle Trent Williams, who is still finalizing contract details, were all present for the team's practice session.
Brandon Aiyuk Back at Practice
Aiyuk practiced with the team for the first time since the 2023 campaign after an offseason of contract negotiations that culminated in a four-year agreement that finalized last week.
"I feel light, I feel ready," Aiyuk said. "I'm super excited. Feeling fresh, feeling renewed, I'm coming with a new energy. I'm just excited to play football again... Ultimately I wanted to be here and I ended up being here. So, I'm happy, I'm good and I'm ready to go."
The wideout looked ahead to the season opener at Levi's® Stadium and acknowledged the strong matchup he'll face against the Jets defense on Monday night.
"They got some good DBs. They also got a lot of guys that we know, (Jets head coach Robert) Saleh, we know (defensive lineman Javon Kinlaw) JK over there, we're familiar with their scheme so it's going to be a good matchup."
Trent Williams Talks Future with the 49ers
The First Team All-Pro left tackle made his return to the 49ers facility after missing training camp and the preseason, and is now in the final stages of a contract restructure with the team. Despite his absence leading up to Week 1 of his 14th NFL season, Williams shared that he had a productive "getting ready for football" offseason while away.
"At age 36, I'm just finding different ways to try to continue to get one percent better. I think I had a really good offseason. Me and my trainer James Cooper, we locked in really early and changed a bit of stuff," Williams said. "I feel really good coming off of this offseason."
He kept up with the team by watching preseason games, noting standout performances from rookies like OL Dominick Puni, S Malik Mustapha, WR Jacob Cowing and RB Isaac Guerendo.
"You think they come out of nowhere, but I mean these guys get in and they look like they can contribute day one. And as a rookie, that's an extremely hard thing to do. Especially in today's world where it's a microwave league – we want to see everybody be good as soon as they step in the door. So, that's kind of my evaluation of what I watched."
During the media's brief window into Tuesday's practice, Williams stepped out to the practice field and was seen reconnecting with running backs coach Bobby Turner and head strength and conditioning coach Dustin Perry. He shared his passion and eagerness to continue playing in the NFL following the team's practice.
"I'm still hungry, I still miss the game... I'm going to play as long as I can, as long as I feel like I'm a productive player, as long as I feel like I have something to offer, I'm going want to play football. It's all I've done since the second grade.
"I just want to continue to knock barriers down. At my age, there's probably not a lot of people to play at an All-Pro level outside of a quarterback. I just want to continue to bust those barriers and continue to show that this is a new age."
Christian McCaffrey Continues to Build Momentum
McCaffrey missed a majority of training camp and the team's preseason slate due to a calf strain he suffered in early August. Since then, the running back has been around the team daily and was seen rehabbing off to the side of the field in recent weeks.
On Tuesday morning, McCaffrey was suited up for the team's first practice of the week before the "Monday Night Football" contest.
