The 49ers are dealing with a long list of injuries and no one would argue that’s where the team wants to find itself as they head into a Week Three matchup with the Rams.
One veteran member of the team thinks that dealing with the absences could help the team in the long run, though. Left tackle Trent Williams cited quarterback Brock Purdy’s rise to the starting lineup while saying that there can be “a blessing in disguise” when players are forced into the lineup because they can show they belong.
“It’s just next man up,” Williams said, via 49ersWebzone.com. “It sucks. Those guys are the best in the world, but who really feels sorry for us? So it’s a next-man-up league. It’s a couple guys that we want to see get more action anyway. Hated it had to come on the heels of somebody being injured, but this is when opportunities present themselves.”
Williams could point to Jordan Mason in addition to Purdy as an example of what he’s talking about. The running back has 247 yards and two touchdowns in two games in place of Christian McCaffrey and the 49ers would welcome similar production from other fill-ins in the coming weeks.
