{"id":665885,"date":"2026-01-10T10:41:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-10T10:41:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/665885\/"},"modified":"2026-01-10T10:41:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-10T10:41:12","slug":"49ers-news-win-it-for-fred-warner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/665885\/","title":{"rendered":"49ers News: Win it for Fred Warner"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kawakami: Kittle next to McCaffrey \u2014 the heart of the 49ers\u2019 locker room culture (paywall)<\/a>
\u201cWhen I asked Bethune for an example of some wise words he\u2019s received from Kittle or McCaffrey, he couldn\u2019t wait to tell me.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember Christian told me not to eat right before I go to sleep because your body can\u2019t digest it, sleep and recovery at the same time,\u201d Bethune said.<\/p>\n

Have you followed that advice, Tatum? \u201cOh yeah,\u201d Bethune said, in a tone that suggested that ignoring some McCaffrey advice would be stunningly stupid.<\/p>\n

Morstead, meanwhile, had a more veteran viewpoint of life next to two superstars.\u201c<\/p>\n

Veteran linebacker Eric Kendricks becoming comfortable in new role with 49ers<\/a>
\u201c\u201cI don\u2019t know what I envisioned,\u201d Kendricks said on Wednesday. \u201cI took a leap of faith, as far as the organization was concerned. I just had a gut feeling. I didn\u2019t want to jump on anything too early that didn\u2019t feel quite right.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t play for a whole, so nothing really felt right. I got this opportunity, and it felt right\u2026<\/p>\n

NFL playoffs: Key matchups to watch in each NFC wild-card game (paywall)<\/a>
\u201cJalen Hurts hasn\u2019t run as much on designed runs and scrambles, which has hurt the Eagles shotgun running game, so they\u2019ve run the ball more from under center, where they get most of their explosive rushes. However, they don\u2019t pass much from under center (30th in dropbacks from under center), which makes them predictable.<\/p>\n

Last season, the Eagles only had one game under 100 rushing yards, in Week 18, when they rested their starters. This season, they\u2019ve had nine games under 100. Notably, they struggled to run the ball against some of the league\u2019s worst run defenses, such as the Washington Commanders, Buffalo Bills and Dallas Cowboys. As mentioned, the 49ers run defense has struggled in the last few weeks, but it has a shot at stopping the Eagles run game. The Bills did so by confusing their blocking schemes with line games and run blitzes, and 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh did the same to the Seattle Seahawks in Week 18 after getting gashed on the ground early in the game. Still, anytime you have Saquon Barkley in the backfield, the threat of the big run always looms.<\/p>\n

The Eagles faced the seventh-highest rate of two-deep safeties, which limited Hurts\u2019 ability to throw outside to A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith. Despite all the two-high shells they faced, they struggled to run the ball consistently. 49ers cornerback Deommodore Lenoir has struggled as of late, and Renardo Green is just coming back from injury. If the 49ers are forced to play one-high coverage because of the run, it\u2019ll be a lot to ask Lenoir and Green to cover Brown and Smith one-on-one, especially with their nonexistent pass rush. With right tackle Lane Johnson possibly returning from injury, it\u2019ll be even more difficult to get to Hurts and make the run game a bigger threat.<\/p>\n

Although Saleh is a single-high coach, he has shown a willingness to go to two-deep coverages in certain games, as he did early against the Seahawks. With the star receivers that the Eagles have on the outside and their inconsistencies running the ball, the better choice should be to start the game in two-high and see if you can disrupt the run game without an extra defender in the box.\u201c<\/p>\n

49ers LT Trent Williams returns to practice; LB Fred Warner runs on side field (paywall)<\/a>
\u201cWilliams was officially questionable but ultimately did not suit up Saturday as the 49ers lost to the Seahawks, and with it, the No. 1 seed. He and wide receiver Ricky Pearsall\u2019s availability to play the Eagles on Sunday in Philadelphia remains TBD.\u201d<\/p>\n

49ers rookie Upton Stout playing his best ball for a defense in need of a bright spot (paywall)<\/a>
\u201cLate Wednesday morning, Upton Stout could be found seated at the edge of his locker, an iPad in one hand and a notebook in the other. His rounds of media interviews had just concluded. There were more than usual after the San Francisco 49ers<\/a> rookie nickel back played perhaps the best game of his young career the previous week. Soon enough, Stout sank away from the cameras and recorders to review some film. The southpaw meticulously penciled and erased notes, unhurried and unbothered, in a manner that seemed to mirror his approach to the season.<\/p>\n

The Niners drafted Stout in April with hopes he could play right away in September. Opponents took advantage. But he kept his cool.<\/p>\n

\u201cRealizing you can\u2019t be great on everybody else\u2019s time,\u201d Stout told the Chronicle in October. \u201cWalking around the locker room, I see a lot of great players but, like, how long did it take them to be great?\u2026.Growing up the way I grew up, and just being in situations in high school, realizing you can\u2019t be that size, you can\u2019t be that small,\u201d Stout said this week. \u201cSo just knowing my strengths and weaknesses \u2026 I try to maneuver through as much wiggle room as I could.\u201d<\/p>\n

The night before every game, Stout tries to visualize who he wants to be the next day, based on what film study during the week revealed about himself. Early struggles presumably muddled that process. Having very little of his own Niners tape to study did not help in the opening stages of his rookie campaign.<\/p>\n

But watching his mistakes back eventually helped Stout course correct, in time for his first career playoff game.<\/p>\n

Ravens request interview with 49ers\u2019 Robert Saleh for head coaching gig<\/a>
\u201cThe request brings the total number of teams interested in Saleh to four. The Arizona Cardinals, Tennessee Titans, and Atlanta Falcons have also asked to speak with the 49ers\u2019 defensive coordinator.\u201d<\/p>\n

Why 49ers DC Robert Saleh supports Eagles\u2019 controversial \u2018tush push\u2019 play<\/a>
\u201c\u201cI\u2019m for it,\u201d Saleh said on Thursday. \u201cI think if you do something good, and the rest of the league hates on it, that\u2019s a good thing, right?<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve mastered it. If it was easy to do, every team in the league would be doing it. Teams that have tried to duplicate it struggle.\u201d\u2026..So how can the 49ers best defend the Eagles in short-yardage situations? Saleh said the most effective answer is to take care of business on first and second downs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m for keeping it, but as far as stopping it, we\u2019ll give it our best shot and see what happens,\u201d Saleh said. \u201cThe best way to stop it is to not give them third and 1.\u201d<\/p>\n

Saleh, Kubiak, Purdy preview 49ers-Eagles Wild Card matchup<\/a>
Are you saying that in a short week, you can\u2019t have that full Thursday big practice that you typically have?<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah. You\u2019re thinking about your guys and they\u2019re coming off a game a few days ago, and are you going to make them go out there and run full speed and are you going to put them through the normal Thursday practice routine? And we have to make decisions about whether we\u2019re going to prioritize rest and getting our guys legs or prioritize full-speed reps. And last week for sure, it was one where we looked at, our guys need rest, they need to get their legs back. And so, you sacrifice the full-speed practice reps.\u201d<\/p>\n

How much more preparation can you get done when you have eight days between games as opposed to six? <\/p>\n

\u201cYou can get more done. I think a lot of it comes down to is your brain kind of re-energizing a little bit too and getting that extra day to kind of okay, digest the game, wipe it and then get two full days of game planning, to me, is always helpful. You can really study the defense and then come back the next day and just have a real clear mind about what you want to do. When you\u2019re packing it into one day, you\u2019re jamming it all in there. And so, it\u2019s different. It\u2019s better to have more time. But, that\u2019s the NFL. Every team faces that every week. Everyone\u2019s always going to have short weeks. You deal with it and we\u2019ve got to play better. It\u2019s just not an excuse.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kawakami: Kittle next to McCaffrey \u2014 the heart of the 49ers\u2019 locker room culture (paywall)\u201cWhen I asked Bethune…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":665886,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2080],"tags":[220,52307,7,6,1161,252,1137,2624,2623],"class_list":{"0":"post-665885","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-francisco-49ers","8":"tag-49ers","9":"tag-49ers-links","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-nfl","12":"tag-san-francisco","13":"tag-san-francisco-49ers","14":"tag-san-francisco-49ers-news","15":"tag-sanfrancisco","16":"tag-sanfrancisco49ers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115870386445413438","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/665885","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=665885"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/665885\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/665886"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=665885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=665885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=665885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}