As the 49ers head up to Seattle for a matchup which has been unfavorable to them in recent years, the signs are there for a shift in the tides. The Seahawks are reeling, and approximately one more loss from being realistically eliminated from playoff contention, while the 49ers have crawled back to a three-game winning streak and a positive record for the first time since the second week of the season.
But with all things Seahawks, normalcy is not usually on offer, and there does not seem to be a risk of hubris from a 49ers team which previously lost four-straight games this season and knows all too well the perils of a Russell Wilson-led team, no matter how hapless they may previously have seemed.
Game statuses
At least one of the 49ers’ stars will be out on Sunday, and it’s unlikely he’ll be alone. Kyle Shanahan said that Fred Warner, who was in uniform, but participated only in solo drills in the portion of Friday’s practice open to media, has a chance to play on Sunday, but will need to do some convincing of the 49ers’ coaching staff.
Below is the 49ers’ game status report:
OUT:
- Deebo Samuel (groin)
- Dre Greenlaw (groin)
- Trey Sermon (ankle)
- Maurice Hurst (calf) – Shanahan said he suffered a setback
Doubtful:
- Fred Warner (hamstring)
Questionable:
- Marcell Harris (concussion)
JaMycal Hasty will return from an ankle injury, while Dee Ford, who had his injured reserve practice window opened last week, did not practice, and his status for next week is still murky.
Below is the Seahawks’ game status report, per Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times:
Doubtful:
- Damien Lewis (perineal cyst)
Questionable:
- Rashaad Penny
- Travis Homer
- Alex Collins
That’s three running backs all listed as questionable.
Brandon Aiyuk’s development and best route yet
Kyle Shanahan can be a tough customer to please. He was openly harsh and critical of Brandon Aiyuk’s performance at the start of the season to the ire of many onlookers who had just watched Aiyuk have one of the greatest rookie receiving season in 49ers franchise history.
For Shanahan to suggest that there was some sort of substantive regression was mind-boggling. But after he and Aiyuk “exchanged words” as Shanahan recounted on KNBR on Friday morning, there has been a shift in Aiyuk’s performance.
His production over the last five games has increased roughly threefold since the first six games of the season. He’s averaging 6.4 targets, 4.6 receptions, 67.2 yards and has had two touchdowns in the past five games.
Shanahan said Friday his performance is exponentially better now than last season.
“I don’t even think it’s close,” Shanahan said. “I think he’s a much better player right now. He’s better in the run game, better in the pass game, much more consistent. I think he’s getting better each week going on about four or five weeks.”
He pointed to an improvement in physicality and in decisiveness that he said doesn’t always show up on the stat sheet.
“Stats, they sometimes can tell you the answers, but by no means do they tell you all the answer,” Shanahan said. “Playing time stats will fool you, especially when guy’s stats are dependent on other people a lot… The way he is blocking which you guys are noticing, that’s how I see him running slants too. That’s how I see him over the middle, just fearless. I see him running with the ball hard.”
When asked to provide a specific example, Shanahan cited what he termed the best route of Aiyuk’s young career.
He said the third-and-11 conversion, which set up a late-first half, game-tying touchdown, was a monumentally impressive route by Aiyuk.
“On that third and 11 at the end of the second quarter, I thought that was the best route that he’s had since he’s been here,” Shanahan said. “He needed to do it because if not, he would have been squeezed inside about four more inches, where there plugger was waiting — [Anthony] Barr — would have been a tip or a pick. He did a perfect route so he didn’t get squeezed at all. Jimmy ripped it in there and just like how he looked after the catch, like how aggressive he is.”
Shanahan said it’s not just about talent running routes in practice, but about seeing the different looks versus different variations of coverage and being able to quickly identify what those coverages look like, and adjusting your route to create the necessary spacing for the play to work.
Aiyuk said the improvement has come in terms of “understanding.” He feels he has a better feel for what the offense requires of him, and said that route that he ran so well on Sunday was one which he was sometimes struggling with in the past.
“Definitely [comes from] reps,” Aiyuk said. “A couple time last year, a couple times this year where I ran it differently and it didn’t end up the way that we wanted to. So just getting reps and feeling it out and having stuff go wrong sometimes is the best thing to happen, because when stuff goes wrong, you kind of learn from it. It sticks a lot better that way; so I’ve had that rep before, so it was awesome to get that rep again better and do it the right way.”
Shanahan brings awareness to Johnny Holland’s battle
49ers linebacker coach Johnny Holland was first diagnosed with cancer in 2019 and took time away from the team that season to seek treatment. He has had to do the same this season, and with COVID-19 concerns, he’s had to be more distant than he was last time.
But since taking another leave, Holland has started to ramp back his involvement with the team, and was at practice this week.
Kyle Shanahan will participate in the My Cause, My Cleats campaign this week, wearing the initials J.H. on the back of his shoes to honor Holland and supporting the Institute for Myeloma and Bone Cancer Research. He spoke to Holland’s courage and importance to the organization on Friday.
“I think Johnny’s doing real well right now,” Shanahan said. “I think we all know he did have a setback and right now he’s doing great. His numbers are going down. He can’t come in here all the time because he’s got to be careful of infections and stuff like that, but he’s Zoom-ing all the time. He’s part of all our meetings. He comes out to practice when we’re outside.
“So it’s been great having him around more and it was real cool when they asked me that with the shoes, but I mean firstly I just want to support Johnny. I think you guys know how much he means to me, how much he means to everybody in this building. I didn’t know what myeloma was until Johnny got it. And then once I found out that he got it, then I’ve kind of seen how many people do have it so it’s kind of cool to bring awareness to it and support him and the cause as much as we can.”