49ers wide receiver Mike Evans had to leave Monday night's game because he aggravated the Achilles injury he has been dealing with, but coach Kyle Shanahan said after the game that they're optimistic Evans will play on Sunday against the Falcons.
Shanahan said Evans is used to dealing with this injury and just needs to manage it.
"It's something that he's had before," Shanahan said. "It's something that bothered him throughout the week. So when you have Achilles tendonitis like he does, it kind of is what it is. Flared up tonight, I hope he recovers throughout the week, but you don't think it's a long-term thing. It almost cost him this game and ended up costing him two quarters and hopefully he'll be able to play next week. But if not, we'll have to have the rest of the group step up and hopefully get him healed up by after the bye week."
The 49ers were beating the Commanders 20-3 when Evans went down, and it looked when Evans left the game like they'd win a blowout. But the Commanders came back and could have taken the lead in the fourth quarter before the 49ers ultimately escaped with a 23-17 win. Shanahan said Evans' absence hurt in the second half, although he also said there were a lot more factors that made the game close.
"It's definitely a big deal when you lose a player like Mike," Shanahan said.
Shanahan is optimistic he won't have to play without Evans again on Sunday.