Know Your Foe: San Francisco 49ers vs. New Orleans Saints | Will Brock Purdy Start For Niners?
[Music] Saints ners and um keeping a keen eye this week on the injury report. Let’s head out to San Francisco. Brian Peacock locked on 49ers. Good enough to join us for a couple minutes here to talk about the Niners as uh man, they’re facing some uh some uncertainty coming into the dome this the dome this weekend. Hey Brian, thanks for the time man. How are you? I’m doing great. It’s never a dull moment with the San Francisco 49ers. Well, uh, let’s just start with the the most giant part of this, and that’s that’s Brock Party. What What can you tell us as of here on Wednesday afternoon? Yeah. Uh, according to Kyle Shan today talking with reporters, uh, Brock Party is a long shot to play uh, against the Saints this weekend. And in fact, might be multiple weeks that Brock Pery’s out. He’s got a shoulder, he’s got a toe. Uh, he was able to finish the game last week, but apparently uh, take an inventory of himself after the game, realizing how bad he was hurt. He did take a couple of hits, was under pressure quite often in that game, week one against the Seahawks, and as of now, it’s looking like it’s going to be the M. Jones show in New Orleans. Well, a lot of people here are familiar with M. Jones, his time at Alabama. Didn’t have a a great start to his career in New England, last year with Jacksonville, now with the Niners. What is a realistic expectation for M. Jones this weekend, if in fact he is the guy? Uh, it’s hard to say. He looked okay in the preseason. I think he looked like someone who’s, you know, a good backup as far as NFL backups go. I think he is a good fit for Kyle Shanahan’s offense and clearly he was a guy that Kyle identified as a player that he would potentially even draft as high as number three overall in 2021. Now, 49ers fans kind of learned throughout that off season and draft process to to kind of hate Max Jones because nobody wanted the 49ers to draft M. Jones. Uh, so it’s really funny that it’s come full circle and he’s back with the 49ers and now likely going to start this week. He’s going to be a little bit more aggressive than Brock Pury as far as downfield throws, I think. Uh, but probably less efficient. So maybe that makes for a more fun game. Uh, but also it makes for, I think, high volatility on whether it turns out to be really good or or potentially bad for the 49ers. I haven’t been super impressed from what I’ve seen of M. Jones throughout his NFL career. I definitely think he was overdrafted, but um I Kyle Shanahan is is an offensive wizard and he’s made Jimmy Garoppolo look amazing. He turned Mr. Irelevant into a $53 million per year quarterback. So I I you know and even the work he did with Sam Darnold kind of helping save his career and and become a starting quarterback again. So I I expect M. Jones to be a pro and and be ready to play. What do we expect uh with with KD on IR? how what the impact is there on the offense. I mean, KD alone is such an important piece for the 49ers because of not only his ability as a receiver, but he’s the best blocking tight end in the NFL. And we saw that in week one against the Seahawks. the the they only had one really good drive all game long and it was when KD was in the game and he ended that drive with the touchdown and the 49ers had trouble running the ball after that and and really uh couldn’t I mean it was just it was a struggle for the 49ers and the Seahawks have a good defense and and Brock Pury I think was pressing a little bit made some great throws kind of made some uh throws that maybe he would like to have back but they also were afraid to kick field goals because they didn’t trust their kicker who they ended up cutting the day after last week’s game. So, um it’s George KD is massively important and he would be less important if you had Brandon Iayuk and you had a healthy football team around him, but right now the 49ers are just so injured that um it’s going to I mean it was last week, but it’s going to become even more so the Christian McCaffrey show I think this week. I’m glad you you mentioned it. McCaffrey made his return. Ho h goes off for 140 total yards. He’s just uh like like nothing was ever wrong. Um give me if you would your impressions of McAffrey and what type of impact they’re expecting he’ll have this week in New Orleans. Look and Kyle Shanahan loves to lean on his number one back and Christian McAffrey gives Kyle uh the opportunity to call any play in his playbook at any time when he’s in the game. So he never wants to take Christian McCaffrey off the field. Um the the running game wasn’t really working all that well. It was, you know, three yards per carry. It but you see how good McAffrey is out of the backfield as a receiver and he had nine catches in that game and uh, you know, they leaned on him quite a bit and kept running him even though they couldn’t run the football and it was a close game and they were able to stay on script and and that’s what Kyle Shanahan wants to do. He wants to stay balanced. He wants you to not know uh, if he’s going to throw the ball or run the ball. Wants to stay in front of the sticks. Wants to keep the game close and not have to, you know, be forced to be onedimensional. And so I think there’s going to be a lot of Christian McAffrey again. He had 22 carries and nine catches. Um it’s unsustainable usage for Christian McCaffrey. We know how much he’s been hurt throughout his career. You can’t give Christian McCaffrey 57 touches this year, but right now Kyle Cananan has no choice to to not take him off the field. So I expect a lot of Christian McCaffrey. It might not be efficient and I would like to see Brian Robinson take a few of those carries away from him just to keep him a little bit fresher. But um really personally Cathy out of the back field is such a tough player for linebackers to cover. Brian Peacock’s with us. Locked on 49ers. He’s on Twitter at BD Peacock if you want to give him a follow. Okay. You you alluded to it there with Moody being out place kicker. They signed Eddie Pinero, another SEC guy from Florida. A lot of people down here know. Um are if it comes down to a kick, what’s the confidence level here in Pinerro? It’s probably higher. U not even seeing him kick any balls recently. And it’s funny that he uh actually it was between the Falcons and the 49ers and he chose the 49ers over the Atlanta Falcons. So I know a lot of Saint faints fans will will uh will appreciate that from Eddie Panero. But I mean he’s he’s one of the more accurate kickers in the NFL and I think at this point he’s going to be an upgrade over Jake Moody who had lost all confidence and after hurting his leg last year had been only about a 50% field goal kicker. So my confidence in Panero is definitely higher than it was in Jake Moody’s. Uh, but really, um, I think Kyle Shanahan’s kind of at his wits end. He doesn’t want to think and worry about special teams, which is why he drafted a third round kicker in the first place. And you just can’t throw draft picks at that position. Doesn’t work that way. Hopefully Eddie Panero is the guy. Um, you know, despite who might be there at at quarterback or who might not be there with KD or whatever the case may be. I mean, obviously you um Debo Samuels now on the other side of the country. It may not matter if the defense is great. So, what give us the the the thumbnail uh idea or the the 10,000 foot view of this uh of this Niners defense here, you know, one week into the season. Robert Salah is a phenomenal football coach. I’ll put it that way. Um, and I think the last couple of years since Dom Ryan’s left, who’s also a fantastic football coach, the 49ers had struggled to find someone that uh that Kyle Shanahan trusted. And really the 49ers under Steve Wilson under Nick Sorson last year were kind of running an a version of that defense that Robert Salah had kind of installed and it was almost the Kyle Shanahan defense and he didn’t really let those guys run their own thing and so it became static and kind of stale and seeing Robert Salah and now with more knowledge and in going and coaching the Jets and coming back it looked a lot more exotic than the old Robert Salah front they used to trying to get pressure with four and he’s still trying to get pressure with four. But you saw this, you know, turbo package with four defensive ends on the field with firstrounder Mike Williams bumping inside with what Der Gross Moss playing some tackle and you know, you know, showing some stimulated pressures and bringing some blitzes and dropping a defensive lineman and and it was a lot more exotic than I remember from Robert Saw’s defense the first time around and they did a really good job against Sam Darnold and the Seahawks last week. I was impressed with so many rookies, three rookies starting for that defense. Is there any any matchup on the field Sunday where uh the Saints might give the 49ers give you pause where the Saints might have an advantage? Yeah, I mean, uh it’s always tough with, you know, similar to Christian McCaffrey, Alvin Chimera’s ability to run and catch the ball is always going to be tough. Luckily, the 49ers do have a linebacker like Fred Warner and um D Winters looked awesome to start his third season last week and he’s got four4 speed and looked a lot like Dre Green Law. So that was a big check mark for Robert Sol’s unit, but I would probably point to the rookie nickel upton stout and the Seattle Seahawks targeted him early and often in that game and he didn’t have a great PFF grade after the game which I didn’t expect him to have because he was targeted so heavily gave up a penalty. So, you know, Rasheed Shahed, it’ll be uh, you know, two dimminionative fast guys going going at it, but I think that nickel defender is probably a place that the Saints will attack the San Francisco 49ers. What is uh Kyle Shanahan’s blueprint to get a win Sunday in the dome. Um, run the ball. They they need to be successful running the football. Whether it’s Christian McAffrey or Brian Robinson, the offensive line did not play great last week against the Seahawks. they weren’t able to run the ball. They need to keep this game close and not let anything weird happen to where they’re chasing points and and need to throw to get back in a football game. So, um Kyle Shanahan wants to be balanced and uh if you can’t run the ball and you get in a lot of third and longs, it makes that very difficult. So, that’s that’s key number one. It is a a great week to subscribe to Locked On 49ers if you’re not already podcast or YouTube. He’s Brian Peacock on Twitter at BDP Peacock if you want to give him a follow. the host of Locked on 49ers. Hey man, we appreciate the time and the insight. Thanks so much. Hey, it was a pleasure. I love talking to you guys. It’s our pleasure. Saints and Ner, the uh line this week is currently at three and a half. So, that line keeps ticking down. It opened at niners 7 and a half. We got the Brock Pury news. We’ve consistently seen that that number tick down. Obviously, KD go to IR. The Niners making a a change there. Place kicker bringing in Pierro. Um, uh, Jawan Jennings is is going to play. We know that. We’re still waiting on the official injury report from San Francisco. The Saints injury report is out. We’ll get to that here in just a smidge. But, um, injuries are going to play a big part in Sunday on on both sides. So, we’re going to keep an eye on that. Hey, thanks so much for watching. Please leave your comments. I love to interact. And be sure to hit the red subscribe button below. That must after you. After you. [Music]
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Matt Moscona breaks down all the latest injury news and key updates ahead of the San Francisco 49ers vs New Orleans Saints matchup. Brock Purdy is a longshot to play this weekend due to shoulder and toe injuries, which could thrust Mac Jones into the starting role. We also analyze George Kittle’s impact on the 49ers offense, Christian McCaffrey’s heavy workload, and new kicker Eddie Pineiro stepping in. Brian Peacock from Locked On 49ers joins us with insider insights on how injuries and roster changes could shape Sunday’s game in the dome.
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