49ers UPDATE: Fred Warner and a deep playoff run 👀

49ers UPDATE: Fred Warner and a deep playoff run 👀

The late fall sun is setting, but not on the 49ers playoff hopes. As we discussed this morning, they’ve got a shot at the one seed. And just imagine this scenario. Imagine the 49ers back in the postseason. Maybe with a week to rest, maybe not. Even if they have to play in the wild card round, say that they win, say that they move on to the divisional round, the championship game. One of those weeks. Imagine Fred Warner potentially returning in uniform to the 49ers lineup. It might sound far-fetched. It might be far-fetched, but we have to remember that Kyle Shanahan’s initial injury timeline when he was just talking about it at the lectern was about three months. There have been doctors who have said about four months for a dislocated ankle and obviously a fractured ankle. for Fred Warner, it’ be about 13 weeks from the date of the injury in early October to the 49ers wildard round. So if you’re talking four months, that’s 16 weeks. So the divisional round is 14 weeks. The championship round is 15 weeks. The buy before the Super Bowl is 16 weeks. The Super Bowl in Santa Clara at Levi Stadium is going to be 17 weeks, more than four months removed from Fred Warner’s injury in early October at Tampa Bay. I have to say that there is documented history of greats, both of whom wore 49ers uniforms, returning awfully quickly from severe injuries that many thought to be season ending. Jerry Rice in 1997 tore his ACL week one at Tampa Bay. Fred Warner also got hurt at Tampa Bay. Same stadium, Raymond James Stadium. Jerry Rice was back by week 16. So that’s 16 weeks. That’s that’s 4 months from a torn ACL. I mean, that that was absolutely mind-numbing how quickly he came back and he scored a touchdown on Monday Night Football against the best team in the NFL, the Denver Broncos would go on to win the Super Bowl that year. I would argue though that maybe the 49ers were the best team in the NFL that year had Jerry Rice been able to stay healthy. Unfortunately, there was I can’t say an aggravation, but a second injury. He cracked his patella on the touchdown that he caught against the Broncos in that Monday Night Football win. That ended Jerry’s season and the 49ers ended up losing to the Packers in the NFC Championship game. Then there’s the case of Terrell Owens. Now Owens was no longer with San Francisco at the time of this injury. He was already with the Philadelphia Eagles, but he broke his leg and they said 8 to 10 weeks. The Super Bowl fell on the seven-week mark and the Eagles played the New England Patriots in that Super Bowl. Terrell Owens played a good three weeks before the end of that 8 to 10 week window, 10 weeks on a broken leg and went off for more than 200 yards in the Super Bowl against New England. Had the Philadelphia Eagles found a way to win that game against Tom Brady and company, Terrell Owens would have been the Super Bowl MVP. So, arguably the two greatest receivers of all time. I would put Jerry Rice at number one and Terrell Owens at number two. Both of whom wore 49ers uniforms at the start of their careers. Jerry Rice for most of his career. Both of those guys came back ridiculously quickly from injuries that many most thought would be season ending. Which is why you can’t rule somebody like Fred Warner out until the fat lady has sung. Because Fred Warner is in that tier of player. Fred Warner is going to be a Hall of Famer. Fred Warner is a game-changing linebacker. He is completely completely skewed how we look at that linebacker position. I mean, back in 2018 when the 49ers drafted him in the third round, he’s this skinny guy. Hear Robert Solah talk about Fred. Just go back and look at that tape. Guy was slight of frame. He was slender. It’s like, what are the 49ers doing? This is a DB type out of BYU or what’s the plan for him? He ended up being a middle linebacker, a mike middle linebacker. At the time that Warner was drafted, the league was just beginning its transition away from the big 250 plus pound middle linebacker in the middle. I mean, Navaro Bowman was with the 49ers the year prior. He was 245. Bowman and and Patrick Willis were the two ferocious 49ers linebackers of the Harbaugh era. And Bowman lasted a few games into the Shanahan era before he was cut after an ACL tear. So he wasn’t at his at his old speed, but but a lot of that was the league changing to these smaller, faster linebackers. And Fred Warner came into the league just at that juncture. Fred then picked up some weight, but kept the absolute insane speed that that that he brings at 6’4. Obviously, I think even improved his athleticism, applied his brains to those prodigious physical gifts and turned into the linebacker that we now call the predator at the linebacker position. And some of the stuff that we’ve seen Fred Warner do just isn’t normal, isn’t supposed to happen. I remember in the divisional playoff game against the Cowboys 2022 season, he blanketed CD Lamb, one of the best white outs in the game in the slot for 20 25 yards downfield. Massive, massive defensive play for Fred Warner against Dallas. It’s not supposed to happen. And when I see a player deliver that way, I could say, okay, he’s built differently. He might be one of those guys that could recover shockingly quickly from an injury, as gruesome as it was against Tampa Bay. Now, what this all comes down to, I think, is the ligament damage. There obviously was some, but we don’t know how severe it was that they’re not releasing the MRIs to us. Uh, at a certain level of damage, any return potential uh within the window of this season would be impossible. But if Fred Warner is dealing primarily with a fracture and a dislocation, then yeah, that that fourmon timeline that we’ve heard from several of these orthopedists might actually come into play in this situation. So just imagine Fred Warner taking the field with the 49ers at some point this postseason. This team, they’ve got somewhere between a 15 and a 18% chance to be the number one seed. I can’t underscore how beneficial that could be for San Francisco if they can attain that over the course of the final month plus of this regular season because you look at their track record. Both times they’ve earned a number one under Kyle Shanahan. The 49ers have made it to the Super Bowl. Both times they in 2022 and 2021 didn’t earn the number one seed and they made it to the NFC Championship game. And both of those years they ran out of gas in the NFC Championship game. 2022 stronger team, better chance until Brock Perie went down with the injury, but 2021 definitely illustrated the value of that one seed and the by-week. So, you know, you’re you’re looking at how wide open this league is right now and you saying anybody can beat anybody any given week. I mean, the 49ers skeleton crew beat the Rams back in week five. So, so you look at the realities of the league and you say, “Well, anybody who can gain a significant advantage in January is going to be the odds on favorite to make it through the bracket to Levi Stadium for the Super Bowl. And that one seed has to be on the 49ers sites right now. They’ve won three straight games. They’ve already beaten the Rams. They’re going to win a fourth straight against the Tennessee Titans.” That’s where I’m at right now in Tennessee. There’s the sunset here in Franklin, Tennessee. Guys can take a look at the barn. You can see back to some of the trees. See, it’s it’s a wintry-l like feel already. I say late fall. Well, that’s because there are no more leaves on those trees and we’re only a couple weeks away from winter. But but you look at the 49ers resume. They’ve just proven to be extremely tough to beat. Just go through their three losses or their four losses this year. First, they fell to the Jacksonville Jaguars. What were the circumstances there? 49ers were playing with an injured QB1. Brock Perie wasn’t healthy. He was coming off a turf toe in that game. M. Jones was more hurt than him, so they couldn’t go to QB2. So, they had her QB. They gave up a punt return for a touchdown to Parker Washington. That was the literal difference in the game. And another play that would have swung the game in the 49ers favor was the bad pass interference call against Upton Stout. So despite, you know, the 49ers not having a a healthy quarterback in that game against Jacksonville, they still would have won had it not been for two plays, one on special team and one on special teams and one essentially a blown call from the officials. So obviously very close to winning against Jacksonville. The next loss was the game where Fred Warner got hurt and that was against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. 49ers are playing with QB2, a good Tampa Bay defense, and a completely decimated defense of their own because that’s the game where Fred Warner got hurt. So, obviously very exceptional circumstances for the 49ers, ones that they don’t plan to operate with moving forward, but those were enough to beat them in Tampa Bay. Then the 49ers lost to the Houston Texans. The Texans are the number one defense in football. If you look at the drive stats, the points per drive allowed, Houston is number one. We said entering that game and leaving that game that this is one of the best pass rushers the 49ers will face. The Texans and the Browns were at the top of that list. 49ers had to play the Texans with QB2 with M. Jones. They didn’t play the Texans with Brock Pury. Brock Pury would have really helped the 49ers against the Texans and maybe they would have even won that game had they had the same type of escapability that Brock Purie put on tape against the Cleveland Browns, but they didn’t have it. Water under the bridge, the 49ers lost to the Texans. And finally, they lost to the Rams, one of the the I would say the the strongest team analytically, at least offense and defense in all football. The Rams came in and faced QB2. They didn’t have to face Brock Perie and they also faced a a completely belleagleered 49ers defense before it started to gain some confidence post Fred Warner and post Muel Williams. A lot of injuries, right? Mikel had gotten hurt the the week before they faced a 49ers defense that was really really leaking oil and they dropped 42 points on them. However, I could put an asterisk by that game and say that the 49ers also beat the Rams with an absolute skeleton crew back in week five. So, even the team that beat the 49ers the most convincingly this year, the 49ers have already beaten. The main point is these 49ers are extremely tough to beat and they will likely never face a set of circumstances as tough as the set of the sets of circumstances that they faced over their four losses, which I just listed. Moving forward, Brock Purie is healthy as their quarterback one. And if he gets hurt again, yeah, I mean, that would suck for the 49ers, but that’s not the assumption that you work with at this point. You work with the assumption that Brock Pury can play at an MVP level, which he did against the Cleveland Browns, which I mean, he’s been playing at a very, very high level whenever he’s been healthy enough to play this season. So, Pertie’s on board now. George KD is healthy now. He wasn’t healthy for the first few weeks of the year. He wasn’t healthy against the uh Jacksonville Jaguars. You can add that to the list in week four for the 49ers. So, you’re going to have both of those guys. You’re going to have a defense that’s actually much better even without Fred Warner and Nick Bosa than it was earlier in this year when it was still reeling from those injuries. The defense over the past three weeks has shown that it’s fig figuring stuff out. The defense over the past three weeks has actually led the entire NFL in efficiency. Now, they haven’t played a great offense since they lost to the Rams in early November, but they’re going to have a chance against better offenses to show that this improvement versus Arizona versus Carolina, who did drop 31 on the Rams, by the way. And this past week versus Cleveland, they’re going to have a chance to show that this improvement can be ported to better competition. And of course, the special teams, literally number one in the league ever since they moved away from Jake Moody. They’re probably going to be number one even including week one sooner rather than later based on the trajectory. So you’ve got an elite offense. I know they’re missing Brandon Iayuk. I know that they could really use Brandon Iayuk. I know that probably won’t happen because of Brandon Iayuk, not because of the 49ers, but uh that’s I think the one slight weakness of this offense is the separation ability. They’re still number 24 or so in the league, but they’ve got all the other tools with an offense going through McAffrey and KD and obviously with Perie at that point guard position and Shanahan giving up a coach of the year type of performance this season. They’ve got all the tools to be right there in that top three offensively. They have the number one special teams. Where can that defense end up if it’s in the top 16? That I There are Super Bowl winners with worse statistical profiles than that. So why not the number one seed for the 49ers? They already have the most wins in the NFC. They’re tied with the Rams. They’re tied with the Seahawks. They’re tied with the Chicago Bears. They get to play the Bears. And guess what? The Rams have to face the Seahawks. The Seahawks have to play the Colts and and the Rams. And the Seahawks ultimately have to play the 49ers. That comes up all the way in week 18. We are set for the most epic three-game stretch of the Kyle Shanahan tenure. Regular season threeame stretch. They’ve had an epic three-game stretch that included the postseason. I could remember 2021. That was insane, right? Rams week 18, Dallas Cowboys wild card, Green Bay Packers divisional round. And that was an epic three-game stretch, followed by Rams again in the NFC Championship game. But just this three-game stretch coming up after the Tennessee game of Indianapolis, Chicago, and then the Seattle Seahawks is going to be something. It’s going to be something to to truly behold. It’s going to be spectacular. The 49ers, you know, maybe they lose all three. Maybe they win all three. Maybe they win one, lose two. They go two and even at two and one, there may be a chance at that the one seed for the 49ers. You never know because other teams are almost certainly going to lose games as well. But running the table is not off the table for San Francisco. This whole league, there’s a lot I don’t want to call it mush. Mush in the middle is not complimentary enough. There’s just a lot of parody amongst good teams the top of this league. And the 49ers, you know, I’ve shown my arrow chart and the the goal for the 49ers has been to move further to the right, which obviously Pertie has shown the capability of doing in charge of this offense, and further up, which this Robert Solid defense is already accomplishing as we speak. That doesn’t even include the special teams, which could give the 49ers another boost. The 49ers have already proven to be contenders within that group. You know, I I said this after they beat the Rams week five. When they beat the Rams with a skeleton crew, I knew that the 49ers were contenders because I knew that health-wise, as long as they got reasonably healthy toward the end of the year, and that meant, you know, that always lies on the the shoulders of quarterback availability. As long as they they could get that QB in there, and that was Brock Pury, and then somehow find a way to stabilize the defense. I knew that the fact that they were able to beat the Rams who were full strength in that Thursday night game prime time that meant that the 49ers had the moxy. They had the the resolve, the fight, the coaching, right? The coaching has been huge. Shanahan, Salah, and Brent Boyer on special teams. They had the coaching to be contenders. Now it’s about who has the best fortune from here on out moving forward. Who can get the healthiest? Who can stay the healthiest? Who has a couple bounces go their way? The NFL has set this up with such parody that uh it’s supposed to be this compelling late in the season. This is the product that the NFL wants and this is the product that the 49ers have gotten. I would say that if Nick Bosa and Fred Warner were healthy, the 49ers would be unquestionably the top team in the NFL right now. Even though this has been a year where they’ve turned over the roster. I mean, we talked all about the roster reset, right, for the 49ers over the course of the offseason. They had to do it. They had to find a way to to get younger to turn themselves into a financially efficient team moving forward into 2026 and beyond. And they did that. And uh you know maybe the strongest projected 49ers team on paper, especially at the start of this season, was going to be 2026 after they had another run at free agency and after these rookies uh truly got their feet wet at the NFL level. But it turns out that now after watching the 49ers for a good 13 games of this season, we can say based on what they’ve shown at nine and four that if Fred Warner and Nick Bos have been healthy, that even in this roster turnover year, uh the the 49ers would have been one of the top teams, if not the top team in football, had they been at full strength. That’s how at nine and four, they’re still in contention for a one seed, even without Fred Warner and Nick Bosa. Just imagine where they would have been with those guys healthy. Anyway, I think that’s an appropriate by-week reset with the sunset behind me. Look at that. Absolutely beautiful. I’m heading back to San Francisco tomorrow. Then we got a surprise destination over the course of this by weekend. We can watch all the games from there. That’s going to be a nice boost as well. We’re going to listen to Kyle Shanahan. This was his conference call following the 49ers win over the Cleveland Browns. I think it was hilarious because he started talking about Thanksgiving and he was spending it away from his family for the first time in like 20 years and then Kyle Shanahan fell asleep on the couch. Just remember when you’re listening to Kyle here that it’s not just Kyle Shanahan. It is coach of the year candidate Kyle Shanahan and he should be way way more of a contender for coach of the year than the media is giving him credit for. You know, we’re about to enter awards season. Pro Bowl and all that stuff is going to start happening here in December. And then of course everybody’s gonna be talking about MVP and and coach of the year. Just remember, don’t take this stuff all too seriously because the lack of objectivity and the group think that goes behind these awards. It’s just the media voting for awards. And you see how bad the media is with Matthew Stafford and with Brock Perie and you know, they don’t hold players to the same standards, right? I mean, if Pertie had thrown two interceptions and fumbled the ball against Carolina in 2023 when he was the MVP front runner, he’d eliminate immediately be eliminated from the race. It doesn’t eliminate Matt Stafford, even though his efficiency numbers this year are worse than Brock Parties in 2023. But I digress. The main point is that different players get treated with different rules. Different coaches and different situations seem to be treated with different rules. And because of that, you’re never going to get fair awards at the end of the season. And people are going to get worked up over those awards, but screw it. Just uh know that Kyle Shanahan is doing one hell of a coaching job to put the 49ers in the position that they’re in to give us the opportunity to talk about the things that we’re talking about. They’re nine and four at the buy, very likely to move to 10 and four. They’ve got a chance of the one seed and maybe, just maybe, Fred Warner can rejoin this team for the postseason. I wouldn’t rule it out. and it’s time to start having some of those discussions as we project what’s happening for the 49ers moving forward. All right, here’s Kyle Shanahan. Have a listen. All right, guys. Um, injuries from the game. Nick Martin will be in the concussion protocol. Kyle used a rib fracture. We’ll evaluate that after the buy. Ben Barge ended up um spraining his foot. He he’ll most likely go on IR miss the rest of the year. Um, and that’s it from the game. Go ahead, Kyle. Going back to uh the very first decision made yesterday, uh what was the the reasoning behind uh not deferring and and taking the ball to open the game? Uh just because of the win factor. Um I wanted a chance to um choose to have the wind at our back in the fourth quarter and that was the only way to get that done. Do do you kind of see that as a a one-time deal that uh kind of unique circumstances dictated that that’ll probably rarely come up? Yeah, I mean that that was so that was solely just because I wanted to make sure I mean the way that wind is it’s hard to throw or kick for two quarters in that game and we wanted to make sure that um we were going to have it if we needed to win on our last second field goal or throw at the end of the game that we had that in the fourth quarter if we could. And that being said, how much how much did you consider at the end of the first half just running the the clock out and not even trying to push the ball down the field? Uh, a lot. It was one of the harder decisions and not fun ones for a while. And then when Brock hit that hit Ricky on that third down and to the sidelines, it just watching the ball and everything made me have some confidence that the wind had died down a little bit. Um, so once we got that first, we kind of just said screw it and we win. and he made that huge play to KD. It was a great catch and um then you could see higher up the wind picking up. That’s why I think it did affect that that ball in the higher one and probably affected that kick um with the hidden upright. Also, Kyle, all things considered, would you consider this one of finest games as a 49er? No, I wouldn’t say that because I think he’s had so many big-time games. Um so many really good games. So, but I that’s not to take anything away from yesterday. I thought he played really well. Um the way he played was the exact way that the game dictated. He was very good in the pocket. Um he we blocked them, I think, very well in protection, but um Brock also did a real good job not getting too deep, staying up in the pocket, being able to hang in there on some longer developing plays. He took care of the ball um and made some big time throws that got us points. Just a clarification on Ben Bart. um would it be possible for him to come back off of IR in the playoffs and then a couple more um uh injury questions after you answer that? Um they’re still evaluating the necessary steps when he gets surgery and stuff. So I I didn’t ask that. It didn’t sound like it. Um you know, we’re looking at possible Liz Frank here. So um that would surprise me, but not not 100% sure. Okay. And then as far as coming out of the buy, are you hopeful that Tatum Bassoon and maybe um Eteros Mos will be ready to go after the buy? Uh yeah, we’re hopeful. Um you know, Tatum’s coming off his high ankle, so you know, I believe that would be three weeks, so that that might be a little fast, but but he’s got a chance along with Samo. Um and then Netour has a good chance, too. So, he had a good workout today. So, hopefully it continues over our week away. And hopefully he’s good to go next week when we start up. And we should get Eddie back also with his hamstring. Couple Browns players had some strong words about Jawan after the game. Did you see what they said and what was your understanding of his involvement and whatever went down while Malik Collins was being carded off? Um yeah, my understanding was I mean it had nothing to do with Malik. Um we got we got so much love for Malik. Uh it just sounded like there was players standing around for a while because of the injury and then they got chirping at each other and I don’t know what words were said but sounded like he offended some guys with the words but um it was just about words during an injury timeout. Is there anything that you have a conversation with him about after that or it’s just kind of the the natural flow of a game? No, I mean I mean I talked to Jawan. I asked him about it, but not in like I love how Jawan plays. I think Jawan plays to the whistle as good as as well as any player in this league. Um is extremely aggressive and plays as hard as he can to the whistle and he’s been doing that as Niner fans know and you guys know since he’s been here. Uh I think sometimes that offends other players and rubs people the wrong way because they’re not used to people going that hard to the whistle. But I think what JJ is very good at is not breaking rules. Um, it’s just like at Arizona last year when he went to the whistle so hard it defended some of their corners and they started throwing punches and unfortunately JJ got kicked out too, but not cuz he didn’t throw a punch or anything and I think JJ’s been real real good at not breaking rules that way. Um, and he gets other guys to break them a lot on him. Kyle, what are your thoughts on Eric Kendrick and do you expect him to be uh to make a contribution on the field soon? I mean, maybe after Tennessee or have you got a good look at what kind of shape he’s in? Uh, yeah. I mean, I I definitely think he has a chance to. I mean, that’s why we liked him coming here. Um, but, you know, I mean, last last week we had three days and it was a short week and we didn’t do anything really full speed. So, those were his first full practices. Um, get him back, you know, since last year without having an offseason. And he looked good in those three practices. I know it’ll be good for him to have this by week to continue working out just for his conditioning and everything and and then next week we should get a bonus practice and have an extra one. So we got four in next week. So um hopefully he can get all that conditioning in and football stamina in and uh next week um you can really show us where he’s at at linebacker. The def performances these last few weeks. Is that unit further along maybe exceeding expectations compared to what you would have anticipated after Nick and Fred went down? Um, I mean, I think I think they’re doing as we anticipated. I mean, some some weeks have been better than others and and but like I mean, you go back to, you know, their first game without Fred and Nick together, you know, following that Tampa Bay game. You know, I thought they we had one of our best defensive games of the year versus Atlanta. Um, so I think they started out pretty good after that. Um, and then we’ve had some up and down games for a while, but um, now being able to string together, three wins in a row, which I think all three of these games the defense played very well in, and they did it in kind of different ways. Um, granted that, you know, the fourth quarter versus Arizona, we got a little loose and gave up a bunch of yards. Um, but but I’ve been real proud of these guys just finding ways to play to a level that allows us to win a game and they’ve been able to do that in different types of ways each week. And, um, that’s what you need to get to the playoffs. And um that’s what you need to be able to be effective in the playoffs. Also, now that he’s been on your staff for 13 games, what have you observed about Brad Boyer? I mean, as far as a as a coach and why he’s able to get so much out of his unit. I I I just think he’s so consistent. Uh you know, he’s a former player who did all that dirty work for so many years as a fullback and special teams player. So, I think automatically when you’re like that, um you earn a lot of respect just going into a room with players. But but that never lasts unless you know what you’re talking about and and and you work extremely hard and you’re consistent and and I think he does all those things. Um so he’s got a great pedigree. He’s been doing it for a while and um he’s pretty simple in his approach in terms of um he studies the tape. He coaches these guys hard. He doesn’t sugarcoat around anything. When when guys aren’t performing up to the standard, he’ll he’ll call them out and and let them know. And I think guys know what to expect. And uh usually when it’s like that, guys just as a group tend to get better each week. and and that’s what’s happened. Coach, to kind of follow up on that question about special about special teams, Scott Moore throughout the season in the locker room has made a few comments about, you know, inching closer or, you know, I’ll make a big play soon when you talk to him about his play out there. What have you seen from him with those big returns that he’s been able to get in the last couple of weeks? And what do you think is the reason for that? Is he just getting more comfortable with Brent Boyer, comfortable in the system? What do you think plays a part in that? Um, I think that he’s a real good player. Um, I mean, Skye’s been a talented player for a while and, you know, he’s been able to stay healthy and he keeps getting opportunities because of how good he is and because he works at it. Um, to me, it’s just a matter of time before he starts getting to this and I think he’s been doing it for a while now. I mean, um, I think he’s had some big returns going over um, for this whole last month and even before. Um, you know, Brian’s gotten better too in that aspect. So, um, when you got guys who are talented with the ball in the hands, it also motivates the other 10 guys or nine guys around them who are blocking. I think we’re getting better at blocking for them, knowing that they can break a big one. And, um, when you get that unit rolling like that, um, usually big more big plays happen. Following Sorry, just one more. Yeah, go ahead. Just following up. Um it it sounded like it was more than just um his physicality that was kind of getting under players skin, especially with the Browns yesterday. Um suggested his trash talk was um was like demeaning or disparaging. Is that something you think is their game in the spirit of competition? You know, heated moment. No, I think we all have a respect level and things that that we stay away from. And um until I heard what he said, I I believe Jawan did. So, I mean, he didn’t tell me anything that he said like that. And so, I mean, I’d have to hear it to have an opinion on it, but but I haven’t heard what he said that offended them so much. Um until I do, I I don’t have much of an opinion on it. That’s just trash talk between a couple people out on the field and um I kind of leave it at that. Kyle, I believe Christian’s played in 50 games now, including the playoffs with the 49ers, and I think he’s got 52 touchdowns. Um, and a lot of them are from in close on running plays. What What is it about him that makes him such a good goal line runner? He’s really good at finding the open hole. Uh, he’s got elite vision. Um, and it it’s hard to create creases down there. Um, but if you can, he usually finds it. And, um, that’s what he does best. Kyle, I have one more Sky Moore question. Um, just his like he is not large obviously and he just goes north and south. Um, is that a unique trait? I mean in a returner as far as I guess the courage that takes uh for him he to not hesitate you know a guy his size. Um, I think it’s a unique trait for people in this world to have that speed and and to not be a bigger guy and to not hesitate on those kick returns. But but that’s why there’s not many people in the world who are that good at them. Um, I don’t I don’t get how you can be successful as a kick returner if you do hesitate. I mean, th those lanes you got to hit full speed and they close um very fast. So, um, if you’re not like that, rarely do you stay out there. Um, but I I understand what you’re saying though because I watch Sky hit those as hard as anyone. And a lot of times I’m worried about him getting up after it. Um, but he continues to do that, continues to play with physicality and doesn’t hesitate and kind of embraces it. And um, when you have that skill set, with that mindset, it’s it ends up being hard not to be successful at it. Kyle, with the by-week coming this late in the season, with the by-week coming this late in the season, does it change how you approach it as far as what you know, what you ask of your coaches, any any projects, uh self scout or anything of that nature? No, I’m nothing different than usual. I mean, it’s, you know, we everyone’s been going seven days a week um for for a while now. And so, I think it’s so important that guys get away and they get their mind away. Um it makes you so much better when you come back and you got to get seven straight days in followed by the next seven straight days in. Um any projects and stuff you do now sometimes I I believe takes away from stuff like that. You can you can do some of those projects Monday morning when we come back and get a head start. You can do it when um we have a Monday night game the following week. Um that those times do happen. And also when guys do get away and you’re sitting around for you know four days or whatever it is. Sometimes guys just like to do stuff on their own um that they’re motivated to do which sometimes I think helps the most. So you never get too far away from football because when we know what we’re coming back to. Um but I think it really helps guys when when you can try to as much as possible. Do do you do that yourself? Do you try to stay out of the office or what are your plans? Uh yeah I try to stay out of the office. I really um I mean I’ll be here for a couple more days to finish up um so I can enjoy myself out of here and I just really try to be with the family non-stop and hang out with my dog and um just catch up with that stuff. All right. What do you think about how Spencer about how Spencer Burford has played? Um he’ll be I assume he’ll be taking over full-time that position now that he’s been sharing with Bartch. I think he had a nice block on a score yesterday. How how do you think he’s played since he’s came back? I’ve been real happy with Spence. Um, you know, him working all off seasonason to be a swing tackle, I thought he did a hell of a job doing and is still prepared for that. Um, but for him to come in after the the big injury he had and fill in at guard right away, his first week back and um, I think each week he’s gotten better and better and it’s first time playing on the left side and um, I think he’s playing at a very good level and I think he’ll only improve as year goes.

49ers GOOSEBUMPS: Fred Warner — playoff return? | SF’s good news: Hard to beat

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