Niners Nation
It was a shorter injury list for the San Francisco 49ers. Since it’s a Monday game, today is their “Wednesday” on the practice schedule. Here’s a look at the injury report for Thursday:
Won’t practice:
DE Robert Beal (concussion)
LB Tatum Bethune (ankle)
Eddy Pineiro (hamstring)
Limited:
LB Luke Gifford (hip/neck)
Kyle Shanahan said he’s “expecting a full-go guy who gets better each week” about Brock Purdy.
Shanahan has not asked whether linebacker Fred Warner will be back in time for the playoffs. He said he does not keep up on the injuries that aren’t week to week: “I’m sure it’s going awesome. Fred works as hard as anyone, so it’s going great.”
Curstis Robinson will start with Warner and Bethune sidelined:
It’s been good that Curtis has been here. Always been practicing for this moment and stuff. But it’s just like when you’re missing a quarterback and a center. It’s not just the ability of the guy. Everything runs through that position. And the MIKE, by far, is the most on the defense. Getting everybody lined up and getting the adjustments, the motions. It’s a huge deal, schematically, mentally, the challenge of it. But Curtis is the right dude for that.
Here’s Shanahan on how rookie Nick Martin looked in his first extended action:
I thought he did a real good job. You know, I thought he ran and tackled very well. Really just had one mistake in the pass game, giving up a 7-cut behind him. I think he had 14 plays, but 13 of them were real good.
Based on Shanahan’s answer, it doesn’t sound like the team is ready for Martin to get everybody lined up and adjust accordingly. That’s a lot to put on a linebacker’s plate, especially if he hasn’t practiced that position all season. Remember, Martin has been a special teamer, and it wasn’t until last week that he was practicing at SAM. So, asking him to play MIKE a week after he was tasked with playing SAM could result in information overload and mistakes.
