Posted by Sabrina B. @gametimegirl

San Francisco 49ers guard Chilo Rachal had good reason for missing two days of practice last week. He wanted to be present for the birth of his son and spend a little time with his wife.

It cost Rachal plenty of playing time Sunday in his team’s 23-20 overtime win over theSt. Louis Rams, but hey, family comes first.

“I missed those two days,” the 6-foot-5, 323-pound Rachal said. “It’s all good. We got the ‘W,’ and that’s all that matters.”

Rachal lost his starting job at right guard because of his absences, which coach Mike Singletary said were for “personal reasons.” Adam Snyder started in his place while Rachal welcomed the birth of a son, Chilo Rachal Jr., who weighed 8 pounds and measured 22 inches.

“The bottom line is, Chilo missed the Friday practice,” Singletary said. “He let me know the day before that there was a chance that would happen. I thought it was fair to our offense, our coordinator and our quarterback to start Snyder. There were little changes we made that Chilo was not in tune with.”

Rachal had no complaints with the decision, but said, “I’m a competitor. Anybody who wants to compete is going to want to play.”

In the end, Rachal got in the game, playing his usual spot when Snyder was sustained an injury to his right shoulder.

-Michael Martinez