Left tackle Joe Staley aggravated a knee issue in the first quarter of the 49ers’ exhibition game on Sunday night but the team expects him to be ready for the regular-season opener.
“He’s obviously got some tendonitis and things like that in his knee, some wear and tear,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said Monday evening in a conference call with Bay Area reporters. “But we feel good about it and we think he’ll be good by Week 1.”
The 49ers open the season Sept. 10 against the Carolina Panthers at Levi’s Stadium. Staley, along with many 49ers starters, will not play in the exhibition finale on Thursday against the Los Angeles Chargers.
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Staley was blocking down on Minnesota Vikings defensive tackle Linval Joseph when his knee appeared to buckle slightly on the play that resulted in Brian Hoyer’s 46-yard touchdown pass to Marquise Goodwin.
“I think he was just running real hard and cleared out the pocket for us to throw that deep ball to Marquise,” Shanahan said. “You could tell he just caught it a little bit on the turf. I think it scared him more than anything and I know he’s got some stuff in there.
“I know he wanted to fight through it and I’m sure he could have, but he landed a little awkwardly on it. You could see it if you saw it on the end zone copy. We just wanted to be safe with him and we’ll take it safe with him this whole week up to Carolina, make sure he’s 100-percent when we start that game.”
Staley, who turns 33 on Wednesday, is a five-time Pro Bowl selection. He has started 143 games in his 10-year NFL career. His streak of 92 consecutive starts ended in December due to a hamstring injury.
