With the expectation a new left tackle to replace injured Joe Staley isn’t coming through the door any time soon, 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan sounded confident rookie Justin Skule can handle things for now.
Shanahan confirmed Monday the 35-year-old Staley will be out at least six weeks after fracturing his left leg in Sunday’s 41-17 victory in Cincinnati. Partly because of Skule’s 19 snaps of relief work after Staley was injured, and mostly because acquiring a starting caliber tackle is problematic, the job falls to Skule on Sunday against Pittsburgh.
“When he came in he did a good job,” Shanahan said of the 49ers’ sixth-round pick who was a four-year starter at Vanderbilt.