49ers notebook: Bye week much needed; Shanahan explains defensive changes
The 49ers’ upcoming bye week could not be coming soon enough.
The problem, however, is that could have been said at any point this season given the glut of injuries to key players throughout 2020.
“But this is as much of a needed rest as a team I’ve been on,” head coach Kyle Shanahan said Sunday from New Orleans after San Francisco suffered their third straight loss to the Saints, 27-13.
The 49ers have been without Nick Bosa, George Kittle, Richard Sherman, Deebo Samuel and Jimmy Garoppolo for most of the season, while they also exited Sunday’s game with an injury to a fourth running back, JaMycal Hasty, who broke his collar bone in the fourth quarter, Shanahan said.
It’s likely Hasty will be out for an extended period and perhaps the rest of the season. He was a bright spot at times, offering the 49ers burst out of the backfield in the October wins over the Rams and Patriots. He recorded 39 rushes for 148 yards (3.8 average) in seven games since getting promoted from the practice squad, where the Baylor alum opened the season after signing as an undrafted free agent in the spring.
The good news for San Francisco is Shanahan is expecting Raheem Mostert to return following the upcoming bye to play against the Rams, the same team he sustained his high-ankle sprain against Oct. 18. Shanahan also said he’s hopeful Tevin Coleman could return after aggravating a knee sprain Nov. 1 against the Seahawks.
“I just want to get more time for guys to come back to start with,” Shanahan said. “Hopefully, an extra week off, I’m hoping to just get a couple guys back on offense. And I know we’re going to get hopefully one back on defense, maybe more.”
Shanahan said all the injuries have caused a “chain reaction” on the roster, meaning a slew of players have more expanded roles than the coaching staff intended heading into the season. Kerry Hyder, who was brought in to be a rotational pass rusher behind Bosa, Dee Ford and Ronald Blair III, has been a starter and arguably the team’s best defensive lineman throughout the year.
Jason Verrett, of course, is getting his most expansive playing time since multiple ACL tears and an ruptured Achilles since all since 2015. And running back Jerick McKinnon is the team’s only running back to appear in every game this season, but he hasn’t been effective after missing the last two seasons with knee issues. McKinnon registered just 33 yards on 18 carries Sunday and left the game with a stinger, Shanahan said.
The bye will give some players a chance to get healthy and the others some much-needed rest.
“We’ve had a lot of guys who’ve had to be out there a lot,” Shanahan said. “Some rotational players, things like that, who have been carrying the load for way too long. And I got a lot of respect for some of these guys who have just been hanging on ... they need some rest, they need to get away.”
Said left tackle Trent Williams: “We definitely need it. We got a lot of guys outside who we need get back. The bye will help us tremendously. It’s been a pretty long season. Not just us, but everybody. We’ve been at the stadium every day since August, I guess, whenever we reported. It helps us more than anything because we’re so injured. That week, we’ll be able to get some guys back that can help us win.”
San Francisco’s next game is Nov. 29 against the Rams in Los Angeles.
49ers make changes to defense
Defensive coordinator Robert Saleh indicated last week the coaching staff could do a better job at getting Tarvarius Moore on the field, and that’s exactly what he did on Sunday. Moore, the talented third-year pro, started at safety alongside Jimmie Ward for the first time in his career.
It became necessary when strong safety Jaquiski Tartt went down last week with a season-ending turf toe injury. The move made the 49ers smaller at safety as Moore and Ward are listed at 200 and 195 pounds, respectively, while Tartt hovers in the 215 range as a more-typical strong safety.
And with Moore playing instead of Marcell Harris, who had been Tartt’s backup, it allowed Harris to be used in a linebacker role near the line of scrimmage, giving San Francisco more coverage ability on the second level in place of linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair, who had gotten beat on post routes in recent weeks, Shanahan said.
“The main thing, we wanted to get a little more speed out there. We wanted to get Tarvarius on the field,” said Shanahan. “It has absolutely nothing to do against Azeez, I think Azeez has been doing a real good job for us. And I think Marcell’s been doing a real good job for us too. He got caught in the post a couple times over the last few weeks, getting Tarvarius Moore out on the field helped, it seemed like it did today. And we keep Marcell focused on what he does best.”
It appeared to pay off. The Saints’ high powered offense had just 237 yards Sunday, down from their 420 the previous game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Some of that had to do with Drew Brees halftime exit on Sunday with a rib injury. But the 49ers sounded happy with the way the new look impacted things.
“Just having Marcell at linebacker, obviously having experience at DB, being able to cover and do those type of things, and just his aggression, I think that’s why we like him so much, because of how aggressive he is,” linebacker Fred Warner said.
Moore forced a fumble from Saints backup quarterback Taysom Hill that Harris recovered. Harris also recovered a Saints muffed punt on special teams. It’s likely the 49ers stick with Harris at linebacker and Moore at one of the safety spots over the final six games of the season. Perhaps it would give the team a long-term option to replace Tartt, who is a free agent after the season.
▪ Shanahan announced reserve safety Johnathan Cyprien had a hamstring injury and he didn’t return to the game. Reserve safety Jared Maden, who was recently promoted from the practice squad, didn’t return from a quadriceps injury. Quarterback Nick Mullens had a quadriceps injury but remained in the game.
▪ Third-string quarterback C.J. Beathard appeared on one play for Mullens in the third quarter, a third-and-21, in which he underthrew an open Richie James Jr. Mullens said afterwards he got the wind knocked out of him moments earlier and had to leave the game.
“I’m good. I couldn’t breathe,” Mullens said. “I got the air kind of knocked out of me, so I was shaken up on that play and I had to come out.”
▪ Cornerback Ahekllo Witherspoon was a healthy scratch for the second straight week. He joined the other inactives that were ruled out on Friday: receiver Deebo Samuel (hamstring), slot cornerback K’Waun Williams (ankle), running back Tevin Coleman (knee) and linebacker Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles (hamstring).
This story was originally published November 16, 2020 at 6:57 AM with the headline "49ers notebook: Bye week much needed; Shanahan explains defensive changes."
