SANTA CLARA, Calif. — One day after it was announced that San Francisco 49ers cornerback K’Waun Williams had been suspended for two games for violation of the NFL’s policy on performance-enhancing substances, that suspension has been rescinded, according to the league.
Williams had been caught off guard by the suspension and further investigation revealed a problem with the testing procedures, which led to the league overturning the suspension Wednesday afternoon.
“I knew that he had some issues with the failed test, something that completely shocked him,” coach Kyle Shanahan said. “Just hearing from him, it doesn’t surprise me.”
Williams, who has been out with a high ankle sprain since the Niners’ Nov. 5 loss against the Green Bay Packers, is not expected to return from that injury for at least a few more weeks, Shanahan said Wednesday.
One player who does appear set to return is defensive lineman Arik Armstead. The Niners activated Armstead and center Hroniss Grasu from the reserve/COVID-19 list on Wednesday. Armstead was limited in Wednesday’s practice but is eligible to get back to practice in full on Thursday.
Despite that, the 49ers have seven more players — receiver Brandon Aiyuk, tight end Daniel Helm, defensive tackles D.J. Jones and Javon Kinlaw, linebacker Joe Walker, left tackle Trent Williams and defensive end Jordan Willis — still on the reserve/COVID-19 list.
None of those players practiced Wednesday and Shanahan indicated that while he’s hopeful some of them will be able to play Sunday against the Los Angeles Rams, he’s expecting some to be unavailable and for the game to go ahead as scheduled.
“I think this is giving us enough time to recover,” Shanahan said. “At least, we’ve been good in our building for a number of days, so it doesn’t look like it’s getting worse, at least in our building. So as long as we don’t get it in here, [a postponement] would surprise me. It’s just going to make it tough to practice this week. We’ve got a number of guys out who probably won’t be back for the game. We’ll see how that goes.”
If some of those players aren’t able to play, the Niners could be getting some reinforcements back from injury. Running back Tevin Coleman (knee) and receiver Deebo Samuel (hamstring) were limited participants in Wednesday’s practice while cornerback Richard Sherman (calf) and running backs Raheem Mostert (ankle) and Jeff Wilson Jr. (ankle) also worked back into practice as they remain in their 21-day practice window to return from injured reserve.