49ers' Joe Staley and Ahkello Witherspoon Have "outside chance" of playing Sunday
The San Francisco 49ers may be getting some good news by the end of this practice week regarding injured players Ahkello Witherspoon and Joe Staley. Kyle Shanahan was asked about the status of these players and said that both have an "outside chance" of playing on Sunday vs. the Carolina Panthers.
“I think he’s going to try to get out there and practice a little bit this week. We’ll see how it goes over these next two days. Just talking to him, I think these next two days are big and we’ll see how he feels on Wednesday. I do think there’s an outside chance, but hopefully we can get him out on the practice field a little bit this week to where if he feels good and everything then he can go," per Shanahan on Joe Staley's status.
Staley has been sidelined after breaking his leg in week two against the Cincinnati Bengals. Backup offensive tackle Justin Skule has been filling in his stead and has actually done a stellar job at solidifying the position. Skule was the highest graded offensive lineman this past week against the Washington Redskins via Pro Football Focus.
"But if not, at least he gets a little bit of work in because it’s going to be hard to get a real practice in the following week because of the Thursday night game versus Arizona.”
There should be no need to rush Joe Staley since Skule is performing strong. Thursday night against the Arizona Cardinals may be the likely scenario for his chance, but it is something to keep an eye on as the week progresses.
As for cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon, Kyle Shanahan was not as enthusiastic about his status as he was prior to week seven. When asked if he still expects Witherspoon to return in week eight, Shanahan answered, “Not as much as I did last week. I was hoping for it. Had a little bit of a setback last week, not big, but I think it’ll be pushing it this week. There’s still an outside chance, but not as much as I felt last week.”
It's safe to say that like Staley, Witherspoon will not be active against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday. At least the 49ers have not skipped a beat due to their absences. Like with Justin Skule, Emmanuel Moseley has looked solid in Witherspoon's absence. Thanks to these players the 49ers can afford to wait as long as they can with these two.
The last thing they want to do is bring them back before they are fully healed. Otherwise, they run the risk of re-injury and missing more games. San Francisco should be fine without them once again when they face the Panthers at Levi's stadium.
