Mykel Williams returns for 49ers with Nick Bosa out

The 49ers needed help on the edge going into Seattle, and Kyle Shanahan says last year's first-round pick is ready to give it.

Adam Schefter

@AdamSchefter

49ers plan to activate last year’s first-round pick, Mykel Williams, for Sunday’s game in Seattle. “He’s had a good two weeks,” 49ers HC Kyle Shanahan said. “He was good last week and this week’s been even better. Ready to get him back out there on the field.”

This has been a long road back. Williams tore his ACL as a rookie, and that ended his first season after 9 games, in which he had 20 tackles, 4 tackles for loss and 1 sack. San Francisco opened his practice window 2 weeks ago, and Shanahan's whole pitch is that the kid got better each week. He also isn't planning to ease him in. "When he's out there, he'll be full go," Shanahan said, while allowing that the Niners rotate their linemen and it's still his first game back. Per the reports, the activation itself comes Saturday.

The timing isn't an accident. The 49ers' Friday injury report knocked out 2 of the guys you least want to lose in a division road game.

Adam Schefter

@AdamSchefter

49ers ruled out FB Kyle Juszcyk and DE Nick Bosa for Sunday’s game at Seattle. WR Mike Evans is off the injury report and has no injury designation.

Bosa is out with knee and calf issues, his 3rd straight missed game. Juszczyk is out with a knee. So the best pass rusher on the roster is in street clothes again, and the 49ers are counting on a guy who hasn't played a snap since his ACL tear to help fill the hole against Seattle. On the good news side, Mike Evans dropped off the report entirely. He sat Wednesday and Thursday with a rib injury he picked up against Arizona in Week 3 and aggravated against Denver in Week 4, then practiced Friday. He has 17 catches, 213 yards and 2 touchdowns through 4 games, and the Niners need every one of them.

Someone had to lose a roster spot for Williams, and it was the veteran signed to bridge the gap.

Eric Branch

@Eric_Branch

With DL Mykel Williams expected to be activated from PUP list before Sunday's game at Seattle, the #49ers have released DE Ogbo Okoronkwo.

Okoronkwo signed a 1-year deal in August and gave the 49ers 4 games, 1 start, 2 tackles and 1 sack. He's a 2018 5th-round pick of the Rams who has since been through Houston, Cleveland and Philadelphia, so he'll probably land somewhere. Releasing him tells you how the 49ers see Williams: not as a project they're stashing, but as the guy who takes those snaps right now.

So the thing to watch Sunday is how much Williams actually plays and whether he does anything with it. If the 49ers' 2025 first-rounder can get home against Seattle with Bosa sitting, this season's defensive line looks a lot better. If he's rusty, they're in a road game in Seattle without their best pass rusher and with a first-gamer playing "full go." Shanahan sounds sure. Sunday will show whether he should be.