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The 49ers will once again face life without their starting left tackle. Joe Staley, Monday in his first game back from a broken fibula, dislocated and fractured a finger. That injury required surgery that will keep him out a couple weeks according to head coach Kyle Shanahan.
Justin Skule, who stepped in when Staley broke his fibula in Week 2 against the Bengals, is his likely replacement.
Staley didn’t have his best performance in the team’s 27-24 overtime loss to the Seahawks on Monday night. He looked like a 12-year veteran who hadn’t played a game in two months. Now he’s due to miss more time, but he should be back in time to knock the rust off and get back to playing at a high level in time for a postseason push.
The good news is the team’s play at left tackle didn’t fall off much with the sixth-round rookie Skule in for the starter. He acquitted himself well in six starts, and earned the trust of his head coach.
“I thought he did a very good job,” Shanahan said. “He came in there and stepped it up right away. Did a good job in his first game and I thought he got better each week. We were happy with how he played and I’m glad we had a couple good backups through that.”
They’ll need Skule to play at a high level again with the Cardinals and their very good edge rush coming to Levi’s Stadium on Sunday. Then it’s the Packers in Santa Clara before back-to-back road games in Baltimore and New Orleans, and iit sounds like the 49ers will get Staley back in time for at least one of those games on that road trip.