NFC West Notes: 49ers, Cardinals, Rams

49ers

49ers HC Kyle Shanahan admitted second-guessing the decision to take RB Joe Williams last year.

“Yeah, of course,” Shanahan said, via NBC Bay Area. “You think that with everybody. I do believe in Joe’s ability and his talent. That’s why we wanted him here.

“You’ve got to be talented and it’s got to mean a lot to you. I think it does to Joe. But I think it’s taken him time to see the difference and the urgency that it takes to succeed at this level.”

Shanahan explained that Williams has worked his way into better shape this year.

“Joe wasn’t quite as ready last year and that does make you wonder, because you can’t succeed if you don’t have that mindset,” Shanahan said. “But I’ve seen it this year. I saw it in the way he worked and I feel that he fixed his body, got a lot more muscle and got in better shape.

“But you really never know until you put the pads on because he showed it in OTAs and we’ve had the pads on for a while now and it’s been what we were hoping to see. Hopefully it will continue over to games.”

• 49ers HC Kyle Shanahan announced Sunday that CB Richard Sherman suffered a grade 1 hamstring strain and will be held out “at least a week.” However, Shanahan doesn’t think the injury will be a long-term issue. (Nick Wagoner)
• 49ers CB K’Waun Williams suffered a left ankle injury during Sunday’s practice and Shanahan mentioned that initial indications are that this isn’t a high ankle sprain or a long-term injury. (Nick Wagoner)

Cardinals

• Cardinals C A.Q. Shipley was carted off during Saturday’s practice with an apparent right leg injury. (Bob McManaman)

Rams

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk notes that if Aaron Donald doesn’t report to the team by August 7, he would not accrue a year towards free agency, meaning he would be a restricted free agent next year as opposed to an unrestricted free agent.

Rams HC Sean McVay said Saturday that they were scheduled to meet with Donald last night to discuss where things are, but there hasn’t been a lot of progress towards a resolution.

“You know, I’m not really sure,” McVay said. “We’re scheduled to meet together with [General Manager] Les [Snead], Kevin, myself and Tony [Pastoors] tonight to discuss kind of where we are at. There really hasn’t been much progress in terms of the dialogue since camp. I know that we’re very intentional about trying to get him here, love to have him.”