San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
McKivitz gets another call to reinforce 49ers’ line
When Colton McKivitz was told in January that he would be making his season debut with the season on the line, he was calm and tranquil.
At least that's San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan's memory of how the backup offensive tackle took this news less than two hours before kickoff: Despite not playing a snap in the first 16 games, he would replace All-Pro left tackle Trent Williams for the regular-season finale against the Rams that would determine the 49ers' playoff fate.
“I just remember we told Colton he was up,” Shanahan said, “and it was no big deal to him.” Really? McKivitz's recollection is different. “Oh, trust me, I was feeling it,” McKivitz said. “You start getting the butterflies. And you almost want to throw up.”
Eight months later, McKivitz could be feeling similar emotions Monday night because he'll be in a similar spot.
With Williams sidelined for at least four weeks with a high ankle sprain he suffered in
last Sunday’s loss in Denver, McKivitz, 26, will again replace him against the Rams.
Last season, with McKivitz making an emergency start, the 49ers beat the Rams 27-24 in overtime to secure the NFC’s final playoff spot. They don’t face must-win stakes Monday, but a victory would steady a season that has featured a wobbly 1-2 start.
For McKivitz, a 2020 fifthround pick known for his candor and self-awareness, the situation has obvious parallels, although it isn’t quite as pressure-packed as it was in January.
“It could have been a whole different story if we lose in (Week) 18 last year for my career and the path it’s on,” McKivitz said. “It could have been my rear end getting out of here if we lose that one. It definitely helped my career.”
McKivitz has openly discussed why his career was on the brink last season. After he was waived following training camp, signed to the practice squad and not used for the first 16 games in 2021, he said this summer that he had been at fault. McKivitz admitted he finally realized before it was too late that he was lacking the urgency a late-round pick needs to survive in the NFL.
Right tackle Mike McGlinchey has witnessed McKivitz’s maturation.
“You can’t replace Trent, but he’s ready to go,” McGlinchey said. “And he’s done a great job getting himself in that position over the last year and a half.”
McKivitz has been in this position before, even prior to January.
In 2016, when he was a backup redshirt freshman at West Virginia, the Mountaineers’ starting left tackle was injured on the second drive of their season opener. And McKivitz, who had never played the position,
“It could have been my rear end getting out of here if we lose that one. It definitely helped my
career.”
Colton McKivitz, on the 49ers’ Week 18 win over the Rams
entered to block Missouri defensive end Charles Harris, a future NFL first-round pick.
In 2020, as a rookie, McKivitz made the first of three fill-in starts at guard in a game against the Rams and faced All-Pro defensive
tackle Aaron Donald, a three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year.
Those experiences helped steel him for the 2021 season finale when he often squared off against pass rusher Von Miller, a Super Bowl MVP who is an eight-time Pro Bowl selection.
In January, Williams’ status was iffy before kickoff because of an elbow injury. But McKivitz assumed he wouldn’t replace Williams after arriving at SoFi Stadium and not seeing a jersey hanging in his locker. After McKivitz went out for pregame warm-ups and returned, however, he received a surprise message.
“It was, ‘Hey, Trent’s not going. Here’s your jersey,’ ” McKivitz said. “And so it was, ‘OK, here we go.’ ”
It went well enough for McKivitz to have a similar assignment eight months later.
“You draw on your past experiences,” he said. “And it helps you out in these situations.”