The San Francisco 49ers nearly escaped MetLife Stadium without any serious injuries in their Week 9 victory over the New York Giants.
But, in the waning minutes of the fourth quarter, rookie defensive lineman Mykel Williams went down on his knee while trying to sack quarterback Jaxson Dart. Williams stayed on the ground for a while in obvious pain before getting up and walking off the field under his own power.
While that was initially a good sign, head coach Kyle Shanahan's postgame presser indicated otherwise, suggesting Williams suffered a torn ACL on the play.
Yet Shanahan and the Niners wouldn't know officially until further testing was performed on Monday.
Unfortunately, for a San Francisco squad already beset by a massive swarm of injuries, the news isn't good.
Mykel Williams indeed suffered torn ACL, ending his season
On Monday, hours before Shanahan was again going to speak to the media, ESPN's Jeremy Fowler cited a source revealing Williams had torn his ACL in Sunday's contest:
Testing revealed a torn ACL for 49ers rookie DL Mykel Williams as head coach Kyle Shanahan feared, per source.
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) November 3, 2025
The 49ers have been ravaged on both sides of the ball already, and the defense has been hit particularly hard with stars like linebacker Fred Warner (ankle) and defensive end Nick Bosa (ACL) suffering season-ending injuries already.
Williams is only the latest in a long line of players who'll ultimately miss massive chunks of the season.
With fellow edge rusher Bryce Huff temporarily shelved with a hamstring injury, and depth defensive end Yetur-Gross Matos (knee) going on injured reserve, too, Williams' own injury puts only more pressure on general manager John Lynch and Co. to execute some sort of last-minute transaction ahead of the NFL trade deadline on Nov. 4.
Williams, the Niners' top pick from last April's NFL Draft, might not have impacted the stat sheet as much as some would like, but the rookie was nevertheless proving to be an adept run stopper and more than capable of collapsing pockets, evidenced by the play on which he was injured.
For now, though, San Francisco will be without him.