The start of tackle Menelik Watson’s NFL career has featured a lot more time spent in the trainer’s office than on the field and things don’t appear to be changing anytime soon.
Watson practiced last week for the first time since having knee surgery in early September, but he was back on the sideline at practice on Wednesday. There’s been no setback with Watson’s knee. He was out because of a calf injury, which coach Dennis Allen explained was to the same calf that Watson injured early in camp to lead to his first extended absence of his rookie season.
“It’s a calf,” Allen said, via Vic Tafur of the San Francisco Chronicle. “It’s really the same calf that he’s had problems with. So obviously it’s frustrating for him, it’s frustrating for us that we haven’t been able to really have him out there. We’ve had him maybe a total of 10 days since the start of training camp. Once he gets healthy, then we have to have an opportunity to evaluate him and see what we have.”
If Watson is out for a few weeks, it will turn likely 2013 into something of a redshirt year for the second-round pick. Jared Veldheer is expected back around that point of the season and he’ll move back to left tackle when he’s back. Khalif Barnes and Tony Pashos would be the other options at right tackle and Watson’s scant time on the field would probably work against him in a competition with the two veterans for playing time.