Former Oklahoma star on injured report ahead of NFC Championship

San Francisco 49ers starting offensive tackle and former Oklahoma star Trent Williams suffered an ankle sprain during last Saturday’s Divisional Round win over the Packers. He was not able to participate in practice over the last two days, according to the NFL injury report.

“In Trent’s mind, there’s no way he is not playing,” Niners head coach Kyle Shanahan said. “That’s why he was so crushed last game because he believed he would and his body wouldn’t let him. So hopefully we’ll have some better luck this game. But I know he believes he’s playing and so do I, so we’ll see how that pans out as the week goes. If he can, he will.”

X-rays showed no fracture the Sunday following the Packers win, according to Shanahan. The 49ers coach also said he wasn’t sure whether Williams’ injury was a high-ankle sprain at the time.

Shanahan is hopeful his star lineman will return to his lineup this weekend, as the 49ers have added a new wrinkle in their game — Williams in motion before the snap.

“He’s probably the best guy you could imagine ever doing it. I can’t believe it’s legal. It’s scary even for me to even watch,” Shanahan said of Williams in motion. “I thought it was one of the cooler plays I’ve seen, just because of who was on it.”

Also on the injury report: running back Jeff Wilson (ankle) did not participate in practice for the second straight day, fellow tailback Elijah Mitchell (knee) was limited Thursday. Cornerback Ambry Thomas (knee) and quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo (right thumb) were full participants Thursday, as expected.

“I’m sure it’s pretty good,” Shanahan said of his quarterback. “I hear about the thumb more than the shoulder, so that’s off the injury report now, so I guess we’re good.”

It was also reported after the win over the Packers that star wide receiver Deebo Samuel was injured during the game as well. At first, it looked like the Packers had the wide receiver bottled up on a third-down play with the game on the line.

Samuel simply wouldn’t go down and fought his way past the first down marker. All that was left was for kicker Robbie Gould to kick the football, and the Packers were sent home from the playoffs.

When Samuel found the first down, he came off the field limping immediately. Thankfully for the San Francisco faithful, it looks like Samuel will be on the field this Sunday. “My ankle got twisted up and I got scared there for a minute, but I’ll be all right,” Samuel told NFL Network after the game.

The NFC Championship featuring the Niners and Los Angeles Rams will kickoff from SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, at 6:30 p.m. ET with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line. The victor will take on the winner of the Bengals vs. Chiefs, which kicks off at 3 p.m. ET on Sunday.