Some time away from the field is on the horizon for the San Francisco 49ers in Week 9. The team will head into the Bye with a 5-3 record after their third-straight loss of the season. In his final media availability before the break, head coach Kyle Shanahan shared updates on several players' injury timelines, the schedule for the week ahead and observations from the 31-17 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday afternoon.
Here are the four biggest takeaways from head coach Kyle Shanahan:
The 49ers had two additional names added to their outstanding injury list.
Offensive lineman Aaron Banks and linebacker Dre Greenlaw both came out of the Week 8 contest banged up. The 49ers starting left guard is dealing with turf toe, and according to the head coach, is expected to be out for a "few weeks." Banks didn't report the injury until after the conclusion of the game, and at this point, it's unclear during which play he sustained the turf toe.
Meanwhile, Greenlaw's shoulder sprain appears to be less severe given that Shanahan described the linebacker's status as day-to-day. In addition to this shoulder injury, Greenlaw has dealt with separate ankle and hamstring issues over the course of the first half of the season.
"The wear and tear that he's had the last few weeks with the ankle and things like that, but mainly the shoulder was the worst thing," Shanahan explained when asked if Greenlaw was dealing with any additional injuries. "He's one of our many guys that needs this break."
All-Pro left tackle Trent Williams missed back-to-back games, however, there's hope he will be ready to go after the Bye.
Williams is still working through an ankle injury he sustained against the Cleveland Browns in Week 6. The veteran tackle got rolled up on, and despite making some progress in the last week, Shanahan noted the team did not let Williams work out on gameday because he was "too far away" from where he needed to be to suit up.
"Hopefully, he'll have a good week of rehab and be ready to go when we come back for practice next Monday," Shanahan said.
Shanahan commented on the current NFL trade market with the league deadline less than 24 hours away.
The 49ers last big roster move came earlier this month in the form of a trade with the Denver Broncos. San Francisco sent over a sixth round 2024 draft pick in exchange for edge rusher Randy Gregory and a seventh round 2024 draft selection. At this point, the team has not made any additional moves with the trade deadline looming. That is subject to change, of course, as the team is always looking for ways to improve their competitive edge.
"I know John (Lynch) has been working on that for the last month talking with everyone as every team does right now," Shanahan said. "If we think there is a chance to improve us, we'll do it. (It) doesn't sound like there's a lot of options out there... We'll look at that all the way up to the deadline and see if anything changes."
The 49ers have not departed for the Bye just yet and will work through the early portion of the week before a few days off.
"We're finishing up with (Monday). We're gonna come in tomorrow, get a full day in," Shanahan said. "They're going to have a bunch of workouts. We're going have some meetings. Then, we'll let them off until Monday. All injured guys... they're here all week."
The coaches will also have their time away during this week, working independently from Wednesday until Sunday.
"I hit it pretty hard with the staff for these two days. After that, we'll try to get away from each other," Shanahan added. "We get a lot of things that we do on our own and get away. We all have our systems in our house and things like that. We check in with each other on Sunday and discuss what we've done on our four days away from each other. Then we prepare for the players to come back into the building on Monday."
