Williams glad bout with virus over
Coronavirus has been left tackle’s toughest opponent in career that included cancer fight
Left tackle Trent Williams called his COVID-19 battle last month “the toughest thing I ever had to do in my career.”
For perspective, Williams did not play last season after undergoing surgery to remove a cancerous growth from his scalp.
“The first week, it was more taxing on me mentally than it was physically, just not knowing the depths it could go to,” Williams said via video conference from Glendale, Ariz., where the 49ers relocated this past week amid Santa Clara County’s COVID-19 guidelines banning contact sports.
“And coming off the year I had in ’ 19 where things didn’t really go my way, I was kind of expecting this COVID deal to take the same turn.
“Luckily I’m blessed, man. I got through it with little to none effects from it now,” Williams added. “I’m just thankful, because I know there are a lot of people out there who battled this virus and it didn’t end so well for them. I never want to overlook that.”
Williams surprised even himself that he played in the 49ers’ last game, a Sunday win over the Los Angeles Rams, after going two weeks since last putting on his helmet.
With “little to none” after- effects from COVID-19, Williams will be in the 49ers’ lineup again Monday night when they host the Buffalo Bills at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.
Williams, 32, was riddled with anxiety over the uncertainty of what to expect when he went on the NFL’s COVID-19 reserve list Nov. 20; he was one of nine 49ers placed on it after their Nov. 15 loss at New Orleans, and all have been activated since then.
A perennial Pro Bowler from 2012-18, Williams got cleared off the COVID-19 list last Saturday.