The San Francisco 49ers appear to have dodged another bullet on the injury front after rookie defensive tackle CJ West left early from Thursday’s joint practice with the Las Vegas Raiders.
West went down during a one-on-one drill according to reporters on site at the Intermountain Health Performance Center in Henderson, Nev. He eventually walked off under his own power and testing left head coach Kyle Shanahan optimistic about West’s prognosis.
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“C.J. West hyperextended his knee,” Shanahan said. “We think it’s going to be all right, but it looks like what happened to [DL] Mykel [Williams] last week, but his ACL and everything checked out so far, so hopefully we’ll be lucky.”
Williams hurt his knee in a joint practice with the Denver Broncos and had to miss the team’s preseason opener two days later. In all likelihood West will miss Saturday’s bout with the Raiders.
While it’s good news the two promising rookie defensive linemen didn’t suffer any major damage, the 49ers can’t afford to have two rookies who figure to be significant pieces of their overhauled defensive line missing a ton of reps. By most accounts West and Williams are putting together strong training camps. It’s easy for a first-year player to take a step backward and quickly hit a wall if they miss too much time.
Once the season begins there isn’t as much time for practice and individual work since on-field sessions are generally dedicated to gameplanning for the next opponent. Missed opportunities in training camp can be significant for young players like West and Williams. The 49ers will be hoping neither player misses more than a week so they can continue ramping up before the regular season begins Sept. 7 against the Seattle Seahawks in Seattle.
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This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: 49ers injuries: CJ West joins Mykel Williams with knee issue