Ricky Pearsall ready to return; more ramp-up for Brock Purdy: 49ers minutia minute (paywall)
“Shanahan said Ricky Pearsall is on track to return to practice Wednesday. Pearsall injured his knee against the Jaguars and to this point hasn’t hit his speed baselines when running on a side field.
“Hopefully the next two days go good, and if they do, then he’ll be back out there,” Shanahan said. “He had a good weekend.”
The 49ers’ defense is already out of gas … and there are 7 weeks to go (paywall)
“The 49ers’ body language conveyed exhaustion.
Linebackers Tatum Bethune and Dee Winters, both of whom were dealing with injuries during the week, were slow to get up at various points, and Bethune briefly left the game in the first quarter.
“I just had to get off the field for a quick minute,” he said afterward, “Nothing crazy. I’m good.”
Christian McCaffrey’s increasing burden shows the depleted 49ers’ reality (paywall)
“Coach Kyle Shanahan tried to take advantage of that on fourth-and-1 midway through the second quarter. The 49ers were down 21-0. Shanahan had no choice but to go for it, give his team some kind of life, so he ran a sweep left to McCaffrey.
But Rams linebacker Jared Verse broke through the line, preventing McCaffrey from turning upfield. Then, linebacker Byron Young beat his block and tackled McCaffrey for no gain. The sweep makes less sense in McCaffrey’s reality, where no space for No. 23 is the game plan.
Once upon a time, long ago, the 49ers had so many game-breakers, McCaffrey could exploit the cracks they left in a defense. Or Shanahan could use the gravity of McCaffrey to create misdirection and get the ball to another weapon.“
Why 49ers hosted ‘hell of a player’ Asante Samuel Jr. for tryout on Monday
“Coach Kyle Shanahan described the workout on Monday as a fact-finding mission for the 49ers’ personnel department. He said he did not meet Samuel nor did he watch the workout.”
Kawakami: No magic trade could’ve changed the 49ers’ 2025 destiny (paywall)
“If you want to write them off for letting Stafford and the Rams offense do whatever they wanted on Sunday on the way to a 21-0 lead, you also have to acknowledge that the 49ers’ defense has held up decently in other games, including a victory over the Rams a month ago … and won’t have to play them again in the regular season.
This is resilient team that got within a touchdown early in the third quarter on Sunday, this is a tied-together team, this is a team that still has every chance to make the playoffs.
But let’s say it without equivocation: This, by every practical measure, is currently a mediocre win-one-lose-one team, not a team that would’ve instantly turned into a Super Bowl contender if it had just added a semi-famous pass rusher at last week’s trade deadline.“
49ers vs. Rams PFF grades: Best and worst from the game, plus snap counts
“Defensive end Robert Beal Jr. earned the 49ers’ best run-defense grade (69.8). Safety Jason Pinnock earned the second-highest run-defense grade (65.6) among 49ers defenders.
The game’s lowest run-defense grade went to rookie defensive tackle CJ West (28.1), while defensive tackle Jordan Elliott wasn’t far behind with a 30.5 run-defense grade.“
Kyle Shanahan shares 49ers updates day after Week 10 loss vs. Rams
“Here’s everything he said.”
49ers game review: A very bad game for the D, especially Dee Winters (paywall)
“The mental mistakes were part of a day in which it appeared Winters was physically limited, presumably due to his knee issues. Winters was slow to rise and reach the defensive huddle after several snaps after both he and Bethune (thigh) were “extremely limited” in practice last week, according to Shanahan.
Winters had eight tackles, one behind the line of scrimmage, and two QB hits, but there was a host of plays in which he was a shadow of the early season sideline-to-sideline menace who appeared poised to capably replace Dre Greenlaw.“
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