Niners Nation
Kyle Shanahan shares final updates ahead of 49ers-Seahawks Divisional Round matchup
“How close is WR Jacob Cowing to being on the field?
“He’s close. He’s healthy. You know, he’s had two good weeks and I think we’ve got one more week with him where we’ve got to make a decision, but he’s looked really good out there.”
49ers shrug off Seahawks’ QB Sam Darnold being listed as questionable (paywall)
“Backup quarterback Drew Lock reportedly took first-team snaps in his place.
Offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak was asked how Darnold looked during the session, but deferred all injury questions to head coach Mike Macdonald, who was not scheduled to speak until Friday. Amid an apparent episode of gamesmanship, Darnold did not play along.
“In routes on air, just kind of felt a little something in my oblique,” Darnold said Thursday. “Just didn’t want to push it. Wasn’t the day to push it. So that was it. … I feel like I’ll be ready to go for Saturday.”
How ‘50 knives’ game prepared 49ers’ Brock Purdy for excruciating test in Seattle (paywall)
“On Dec. 15, 2022, the San Francisco 49ers’ then-rookie quarterback received a pre-kickoff injection for a strained oblique and broken rib he suffered four days earlier and felt some relief. Then, on his second throw, an innocuous 4-yard completion, his body seized in agony.
“That throw I was like, ‘Oh, man,’” Purdy recalled in 2023. “It felt like 50 knives in the same area. It was almost hard to breathe.”
49ers’ Fred Warner out vs. Seahawks; Shanahan ‘confident’ about him for NFC title game (paywall)
“Shanahan answered optimistically when asked whether Warner showed enough Wednesday in his lone practice this week to have confidence he could be ready for the NFC Championship Game.
“Yes, I do feel confident in that,” Shanahan said Thursday. “We’ll see if it works out.”
The 49ers will have to make do with a half-healthy Ricky Pearsall. The second-year wide receiver said repeatedly that he expects to play Saturday. The catch? Pearsall acknowledged he’ll have to play differently to accommodate for a posterior cruciate ligament knee injury that he said won’t fully heal until the offseason.
“That’s probably the toughest part, is it just lingering around,” said Pearsall, who is officially considered questionable to suit up versus the Seahawks. “It’s one of those injuries that is not going to heal up until I’m fully rested and done. And I can’t do that right now.”
Kawakami: Shanahan’s longevity, Purdy’s true value, and more 49ers legacies in the making (paywall)
“Here’s the lasting legacy of this 49ers season: They’ve opened a legitimate Super Bowl window, which will become enormously obvious if they pull off a few more thrilling upsets.
And even if they lose Saturday in Seattle, the 49ers have survived too many devastating things this season to let the momentum and good vibes expire going into next season and beyond.
They’ve got something meaningful here. They know it. Everybody around the league can see it. And it’s not...
