Tag: Trent Williams

Oklahoma’s Gerald McCoy injured in Dallas Cowboys’ practice, per report

Former Oklahoma and current Dallas Cowboys DT Gerald McCoy suffered an apparent leg injury during practice Monday, per NFL’s Ian Rapoport. 

Former Oklahoma and current Dallas Cowboys DT Gerald McCoy suffered an apparent leg injury during practice on Monday, per NFL’s Ian Rapoport.

The six-time Pro Bowler has dealt with a handful of injuries throughout his career, including a knee injury toward the end of the 2014 season.

He spent the first nine seasons of his career in Tampa Bay before being released in May 2019. He was signed by the Carolina Panthers two weeks later.

He enjoyed a resurgent season in Carolina, racking up 37 tackles and 5 sacks. He also played in all 16 games for the first time since 2013.

On March 31, McCoy signed a three-year deal with the Cowboys.

McCoy recorded 83 tackles, 33 TFL and 14.5 sacks while at OU from 2007-09. He was drafted with the third overall pick of the 2010 draft. He was joined in the top four by OU teammates Sam Bradford and Trent Williams.

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Watch: NFL star Trent Williams drives dangerously fast in expensive Ferrari

NFL star Trent Williams was captured on video driving dangerously fast in an expensive Ferrari.

This will not please the San Francisco 49ers’ head honchos.

Trent Williams, the Niners’ new seven-time Pro Bowl offensive lineman who was acquired in April in a trade with Washington, was captured on video driving dangerously fast in an expensive Ferrari.

TMZ Sports has all the details and video, but needless to say, this is unsafe and should cause concern.

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NeighborHood Hero 🦍💙

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Deebo Samuel welcomes a 49ers trade for Jamal Adams

Jamal Adams may not need much convincing to join the 49ers after his trade request.

Add Deebo Samuel to the list of 49ers who want an upgrade at safety. The 49ers’ second-year wide receiver tagged Adams in a post to his Instagram story, telling him to “come on the gang.”

Samuel is the second 49er to actively try and recruit Adams — who requested a trade from the Jets earlier this offseason. Left tackle Trent Williams tagged Adams in an Instagram photo of the offensive lineman signing his restructured contract with the 49ers. The tag was located on the 49ers logo on Williams’ hat.

This isn’t the first time 49ers players have gotten active on social media to recruit a player seeking a trade. Antonio Brown was a popular target for 49ers players, past and present, during his bid to get traded out of Pittsburgh. In that situation, the social media activity didn’t matter. General manager John Lynch said the 49ers never kicked tires on the receiver.

Adams may not need the additional luring. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported the 49ers were one of seven teams Adams wanted to play for. San Francisco’s pass rush and Super Bowl run last year likely already worked as strong recruitment tools.

Unfortunately for Samuel, Williams and any other 49ers who want to share a uniform with Adams, the decision isn’t ultimately up to the safety. While he asked for a trade and has a list of teams he’d like to play for — the Jets have made no indication they’re willing to deal the former No. 6 overall pick. Additionally, they won’t be inclined to acquiesce to Adams’ list of preferred teams if a club not on that list gives them the best offer in a trade package.

From the 49ers’ perspective, it’s hard to believe that’s a trade they’ll make based on all the other maneuvers they’ve made the last couple offseasons. If they are going to pursue the safety, it’s something that will have been in the works before Samuel or any other player took to social media.

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49ers’ Deebo Samuel wants Jamal Adams to play by the Bay

Deebo Samuel showed his interest in Jamal Adams playing for the 49ers on his Instagram story.

You can add Deebo Samuel to the list of 49ers players that want Jamal Adams in the Bay Area.

Samuel posted a photoshopped image of Adams in a 49ers uniform on his Instagram story this week. He tagged Adams with the caption “come on the the gang.” This was after a report came out saying the 49ers have inquired about the All-Pro safety.

In June, Trent Williams tagged Adams in a post of him restructuring his contract with the 49ers. Both players clearly want the Niners to go after Adams hard in trade talks with the Jets. San Francisco is one of eight teams on Adams’ list of teams that he’d prefer to be traded too.

At the moment, the Jets have all intentions of keeping Adams this season and beyond. Joe Douglas has already said that he wants to make Adams a “Jet for life,” but the GM is in no rush to do a deal this offseason.

With two years left on Adams’ rookie deal, as well as a good chance of a lower salary cap number next offseason, the Jets aren’t ready to hand out a massive extension to their best defensive player.

This battle between Adams and the front office has been going on since last year’s trade deadline when Adams’ name was brought up in trade talks. The two sides appeared to work out their differences then, but now Adams feels the Jets aren’t honoring their word after saying they would engage in contract talks.

At this point in time, trading Adams doesn’t seem to be in the Jets’ plans, but the situation could very well change over the coming weeks with training camp approaching.

Offseason NFC West Roundup: Catching up with the San Francisco 49ers

In the final part of this series, we examine the Seahawks’ biggest competition for the NFC West title: the San Francisco 49ers.

As the Seattle Seahawks look to make another playoff run in the 2020 season, they face stiff competition in what could be the NFL’s toughest division next year. In the third entry of this three-part series, we review the reigning NFC Champions – the San Francisco 49ers.

Part One | Part Two

San Francisco 49ers

2019 record: 13-3, 5-1 NFC West

Against Seattle: 1-1

2019 postseason: Made Super Bowl LIV (lost 20-31 to the Kansas City Chiefs)

Key additions: WR Travis Benjamin, OT Trent Williams

Key losses: RB Matt Breida, DT DeForest Buckner, WR Emmanuel Sanders, OT Joe Staley

49ers coach Kyle Shanahan will have to stretch the limits of his creativity this season if he hopes to stay ahead of the Seahawks and maintain his team’s momentum after a stunning collapse in Super Bowl LIV.

San Francisco’s offseason was altered dramatically in mid-June after an eventful couple of days in Nashville, where a number of key 49ers joined quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo for voluntary practices. First, breakout second-year receiver Deebo Samuel broke his foot while running a route, which puts him in question to return by the start of the season. The next day, return specialist Richie James Jr. broke his wrist, followed by an announcement that an unnamed 49ers player had tested positive for COVID-19.

As a result, the receiver unit could look somewhat different for the 49ers at the start of the season, with the exception of mainstay Kendrick Bourne. Second-year receiver Jalen Hurd was looking to be a breakout star during the 2019 preseason before incurring a back injury that kept him out for the entire year; if he stays healthy, he could easily step into a starting role. Over the offseason, San Francisco signed former Chargers wideout Travis Benjamin to a one-year contract and drafted two receivers in the 2020 NFL Draft – first-rounder Brandon Aiyuk and seventh-rounder Jauan Jennings.

The player who stands to gain the most from this opportunity, however, is third-year receiver Dante Pettis, who encountered the dreaded “sophomore slump” in 2020 after a promising rookie season. Pettis accumulated a number of injuries in 2020, including a torn pectoral in training camp that prevented him from building and retaining the upper body strength needed to be a competitive NFL receiver. He showed a couple of flashes of his old self when he did see the field, but his overall production dropped enough that he was designated a healthy scratch for the Super Bowl. With 2020 being Pettis’ prove-it year, he will likely see plenty of preseason and early-season action in the voids left at kick returner or at receiver.

Once again, the 49ers’ running back situation inspires plenty of debate, even after the offseason trade of Matt Breida to the Dolphins. Raheem Mostert and Tevin Coleman should be locks to make the roster, but plenty of questions surround the rest. Jerick McKinnon has spent two years on injured reserve, while Jeff Wilson Jr. contributed almost solely as a goal-line back in 2019. The 49ers signed two undrafted free agents at the position – JaMycal Hasty out of Baylor and Salvon Ahmed out of Washington – but both are considered long shots to make the 53-man roster.

The offensive line, which struggled at times last season due to a number of injuries to starting players, has gone through a bit of a shakeup with the 49ers replacing retired Pro Bowl left tackle Joe Staley with Pro Bowl left tackle Trent Williams, as well as releasing guard Mike Person in favor of the much younger Daniel Brunskill. Center Weston Richburg, who missed the entire 2019 postseason with a torn patellar tendon, is on course to be ready for training camp.

Finally, the vaunted 49ers defense looks to be as efficient as ever, despite the trade of star defensive tackle DeForest Buckner to the Indianapolis Colts. San Francisco replaced Buckner with the No. 13 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft with South Carolina product Javon Kinlaw, a First-Team Associated Press All-American, while also re-signing safety Jimmie Ward as well as defensive ends Arik Armstead and Ronald Blair III.

The squad also retains cornerbacks Richard Sherman and Akhello Witherspoon, reigning Defensive Rookie of the Year Nick Bosa, safety Jaquiski Tartt, and linebackers Kwon Alexander, Fred Warner, and Dre Greenlaw, the latter of whom denied the Seahawks the game-winning touchdown for the NFC West title in 2019.

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Trent Williams tags Jamal Adams in Instagram post after signing restructured deal with 49ers

Trent Williams tagged Jamal Adams in an Instagram post as he was signing his contract with the 49ers.

After forcing his way out of Washington and to San Francisco, Trent Williams is trying to bring Jamal Adams to The Bay, too.

Williams posted an Instagram photo of him signing his restructured contract with the 49ers on Saturday. Williams tagged Adams in the photo, hinting that he’d like to see the 49ers acquire the safety in a trade.

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#ninergang 🦍🤞🏾

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The 49ers were one of eight teams on Adams’ wishlist of teams to be traded too. Adams also included the Ravens, Cowboys, Eagles, Buccaneers, Seahawks, Chiefs and Texans.

San Francisco can fit Adams into its budget. The 49ers have about $15.6 million in cap space left, which is plenty for Adams’ $3.5 million 2020 salary. Adding Adams to an already stacked defense could put the 49ers over the top after making the Super Bowl last season.

The Jets, though, have no intentions of trading Adams at the moment. They still want to try and work out an extension, just not right now. Adams still has two years left on his rookie contract with the potential of reaching four years with two franchise tags.

Adams has made it known that he wants out of New York. Based on his list of preferred teams, he wants to join a Super Bowl contender. He hasn’t done a whole lot of winning with the Jets, as they’ve gone 16-32 in Adams’ three years.

The Jets play the 49ers in Week 2 of the regular season at MetLife Stadium, but it would come as a surprise if Adams was lining up for the opposition in that game.

49ers’ defensive line helped make them Trent Williams’ No. 1 choice in trade

Trent Williams wanted to compete daily against the best defensive line, which is part of the reason he chose the 49ers.

Landing left tackle Trent Williams might wind up being the most important move of the 49ers’ offseason. San Francisco acquired Williams on Day 3 of the draft for a 2020 fifth-round pick and a 2021 third-round selection. A short while laster, longtime 49ers left tackle Joe Staley officially announced his retirement. It wasn’t going to be difficult for the team to woo Williams and his agent to put their stamp on a swap that sent the seven-time Pro Bowler to the Bay Area. He told NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport on the ‘RapSheet and Friends’ podcast that the 49ers were his No. 1 trade destination.

The 2019 season was a tumultuous one for Williams who began his season sitting out due to a contract dispute. He wound up needing surgery to have a cancerous growth removed from his skull, and Washington wound up putting him on the Non-Football Injury List and ending his season.

Trade rumors swirled around Williams all through last season, and picked up steam closer to the draft. He told Rapoport that as soon as he knew Staley was officially retiring, he wanted to go to San Francisco.

“We were told (before the draft) that they were basically — they were going to sit still until they understood what direction Joe was heading in … so I knew there was a possibility, but it was just kinda on the back burner until that situation played out,” Williams said. “So, I just kinda kept close tabs on it because obviously that was my number one destination. That’s where I wanted to be. So, once it started to play out and I started to hear and the rumblings started to grow that he might not return, I think that’s when all the focus started to shift back on the 49ers.”

Familiarity with 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan would be a logical reason for Williams to want to play in San Francisco. Shanahan was the offensive coordinator and his father, Mike, was the head coach in Washington when they made Williams the No. 4 overall pick out of Oklahoma in the 2010 draft. He told Rapoport that his knowledge of Shanahan’s scheme didn’t play a huge role in his desire to play for the 49ers since there were several teams with coaches Williams knew well.

The bigger key was Williams’ competitive nature. He hasn’t played in an NFL game since the 2018 season finale. The former first-round pick made the Pro Bowl seven times in his first nine seasons and was widely considered one of the best players in the league at his position. There’s some lingering doubt that he’ll be able to elevate himself back to that level after a full year off. Competing daily against the league’s best and having the opportunity to knock any rust off played a big role in his choice.

“Oh, man. I’m looking forward to it,” Williams said of matching up against the 49ers’ defensive line in practice. “That was one of the, when I looked for a team to go to, I looked at the opposite side of the ball to see who can I sharpen my iron on every day in practice. Because when I get out there on the field, I can’t come up with a rust excuse. All that, to me, doesn’t exist. So, I’d rather be rusty in practice and be able to sharpen my iron then, than to try to do it Monday night with all the cameras on me.

“For me, coming to this organization where their defense is probably the best in the league. When you think about defensive lines that get after the quarterback, I mean I think anybody with a pulse is going to throw the 49ers’ front out there within the first, second or third groups. That in itself excites me as a competitor because I know I can get some of the best work done during the week so that on Sundays – you’re not gonna see too many guys better than that group.”

Williams also singled out second-year defensive end and reigning Defensive Rookie of the Year Nick Bosa – a player he’ll get plenty of match ups against in practice.

“I think they just don’t have that many guys in the league that’s just better than (Bosa). So, I think for me it’s gonna do everything for me to get me back to where I know I can be at,” he said.

If the 49ers get the version of Williams that went to seven consecutive Pro Bowls, they won’t see any drop off at that position in the immediate aftermath of Staley’s retirement. That would indeed make the trade for Williams their best move of the offseason.

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Trent Williams: Jimmy Garoppolo is ‘a quarterback that you can win with in this league’

Jimmy Garoppolo is undoubtedly the 49ers’ starting quarterback, which is a nice change for Trent Williams.

After working with Joe Staley for most of his tenure with the 49ers, Jimmy Garoppolo will have a new left tackle protecting his blind side this season. San Francisco acquired seven-time Pro Bowler Trent Williams in a trade with Washington on Day 3 of the NFL draft. Williams is already fond of his quarterback.

The 49ers’ new left tackle joined Ian Rapoport’s podcast, ‘RapSheet and Friends,’ and had high praise for the team’s quarterback.

“I think Jimmy G is awesome. I think he’s, as proven, he’s a quarterback that you can win with in this league. It’s just hard to find,” Williams told Rapoport. “You know, quarterback is the toughest position to pin down … Having a quarterback that you know is going to make the right read, the right throw … that has to allow Kyle (Shanahan) – give him a chance to sleep at night. Because just having a guy that you know won’t throw the game away for you, and you put in the best position possible he’ll win.”

One of the criticisms of Garoppolo has been that Shanahan’s offense is the reason he was one of the NFL’s most efficient passers last season. Williams highlighted a pro-Garoppolo point though by saying that he can win when put in position to do so.

For all the talk of the 49ers’ run game and defense last year, there were several instances where it was the quarterback’s right arm that got San Francisco to the finish line with a victory.

Williams hasn’t had much luck at the quarterback position during his career. Washington has started 11 different players under center since Williams joined the club in 2010 as a first-round pick. He had the same quarterback for all 16 games only three times in his career. As a result, Washington won more than eight games twice and lost in the first round of the playoffs in both of their postseason trips.

Garoppolo and the 49ers should provide a different experience for Williams though. He started all 16 games under center last year and won 13 of them – more than Washington won in any of Williams’ 10 years there.

Williams and Garoppolo haven’t gotten a chance to play together yet, but the quarterback showed enough in his lone full season as a starter to get his left tackle excited about stepping in and blocking for him. Having a different starting left tackle will be new for Garoppolo, and having a regular starting quarterback will be relatively new for Williams.

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Trent Williams says he planned to play last season before Bruce Allen placed on NFI

Williams says that he was in the process of getting a new helmet when he was surprisingly placed on the NFI list, ending his season.

One of the disrupts in the Washington Redskins relationship with left tackle Trent Williams came last fall when he was placed on the Non-Football Injury list after ending his holdout just before the trade deadline. This move ended his season after the Pro-Bowler failed his physical because he was unable to comfortably wear a helmet due to the scar on his head where a cancerous growth was removed.

At the time, it was being reported that Williams was working to find a helmet that fits comfortably, but Team President Bruce Allen made the move to the NFI regardless.

Now, months after the fact and while playing for a new team — the San Francisco 49ers — Williams told NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport that he had returned to the team with a real intention to play in 2019.

“The competitive juices started to flow, so I was really prepared to make my return last year,” Williams said, via NBC Sports Washington. “I know all of the things that had went on and just being in that facility, being around teammates, being around the guys you fought with, and bled with for so many years. It was almost impossible for me to fight the urge not to just want to get back on the field.”

Things, of course, didn’t quite work out that way, as a game of chicken took place between player and front office members.

“I was literally waiting on my new helmet to come in,” he said. “I was getting ready to kind of gear up and it was going to be somewhat of a surprise to some, but I think for the people who know me best they know how competitive I am.

“I was put on NFI right before I could even get the helmet to get back out there,” Williams continued. “It was a bummer but figured it was just how it was supposed to work out.”

After that, things unraveled even more, and Williams was finally traded to the 49ers during the 2020 NFL Draft. Washington is now looking for a new LT, and Williams has landed with a Super Bowl contending team, playing under his old offensive coordinator, Kyle Shanahan. Hopefully, he is ablet o find the future he desires there, while the Redskins focus on the future they’re building with Ron Rivera right now.

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Jay Gruden excited to see the progress Jawaan Taylor makes in second season

The Jags got a great deal of production out of their 2019 draft class but Jay Gruden seems to especially be high on RT Jawaan Taylor.

Quarterback Gardner Minshew II isn’t the only player who fans are excited about from the Jacksonville Jaguars’ 2019 rookie class as the team’s early selections showed promise, too. Of course, the first name that comes to mind is Josh Allen, who beat the Jags’ rookie sack record with 10.5 and was nominated to the Pro Bowl.

The second player is someone who went under-the-radar in offensive tackle Jawaan Taylor, who already appears to have made a fan of new offensive coordinator Jay Gruden. In this week’s video call with the media, Gruden was asked about rather or not he was excited about the growth of the young tackle and it led to a bunch of high praise towards him.

“One hundred percent, yes,” said Gruden in the Zoom conference. “He’s long, he’s athletic and he plays with the tenacity that you love from a tackle. I am very excited to get to work with him at right tackle. He can run, he can pull, he can get out there on screens, he’s physical in the running game and he can pass protect, he’s got great feet. He’s got every quality that you want in an offensive tackle and the more experience he gets and handing some of the movement up front, the better he’s going to be.”

Talk about high praise for the second-year player.

Gruden’s fondness towards Taylor isn’t shocking when looking at what he had in Washington. On the blindside for his group was Trent Williams, who was a massive force at 6-foot-5, 318 pounds. While Taylor (6-foot-5, 312-pounds) plays on the opposite side, the traits that Gruden explained are very identical to those of Williams, who is a seven-time Pro Bowler.

Taylor will be coming off a rookie season where he struggled early and garnered 16 total penalties, good for second in the league. However, during the last quarter of the season, he played significantly better and many have been excited to see his growth in 2020. He also proved to be an ironman for the Jags and was the only rookie in the league to play in 100% of his snaps, so Gruden also is probably impressed with his toughness, too.

Listen to the latest from Jags Wire’s own James Johnson and Phil Smith on their podcast “Bleav in the Jags.” Subscribe via Apple podcasts and check out our archived episodes via Bleav Podcasts.

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