If the San Francisco 49ers' offensive line had suffered another injury on Monday night, tight end Charlie Woerner would have found himself lining up with the unit.
"We'd have to kind of makeshift that," offensive line coach Chris Foerster told reporters on Thursday.
The 49ers lost three starting offensive linemen against the Ravens. Tackle Trent Williams left in the third quarter with a groin injury, while Jaylon Moore, who replaced Williams, later suffered a concussion.
This forced the 49ers to shuffle their lineup, moving Colton McKivitz from right tackle to left tackle and allowing Spencer Burford to play right tackle. Ben Bartch replaced Aaron Banks at left guard. It was far from an ideal situation, especially with the team on the wrong side of a rout.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan, in a conversation with Adam Copeland on Bay Area radio station KNBR, addressed the offensive line's status leading into the 49ers' Week 17 matchup against the Washington Commanders.
"We were banged up coming out of that game," Shanahan said. "I mean, we lost three guys during the game. They just changed the rule a couple of years ago that you get an eighth O-lineman. If we wouldn't of had that rule, this was just three years ago, we would have been having a tight end play ... for our last three series.
"So, we had a lot of guys go down. Was really worried about it the day after, but knowing now we do have a chance to get some of those guys back. So really hoping to get Trent back, hoping to get Banks back. Jaylon Moore, we haven't ruled him out yet, but I think that's going to be an outside chance.
"But if we can get those guys back, it'll help a lot. And if not, got to get some practice squad guys ready to go and make sure we got enough guys to line up."
The good news is that Williams has practiced in the 49ers' two sessions this week, albeit as a limited participant. Unfortunately, Moore and Banks have not practiced. The team will hold one more session this afternoon before boarding a plane headed for the East Coast.
The 49ers will release their official game status report after the Friday practice session.
You can listen to the entire conversation with Shanahan below.
