Kyle Shanahan, Brock Purdy, Nick Sorensen preview 49ers-Rams

“San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan, quarterback Brock Purdy, and defensive coordinator Nick Sorensen spoke to reporters ahead of Tuesday’s practice as the team prepares for its Week 15 matchup against the Los Angeles Rams. Here’s everything they said.”

‘A little frustrated, for sure’: 49ers’ Deebo Samuel on his low-yield season (paywall)

“Kittle noted that Samuel’s modest stat line against Chicago wasn’t due to a lack of effort but because of scheme. He noted that the Bears defensive ends had been playing a certain way all season and the 49ers entered the game thinking they could exploit that tendency with plays to Samuel. Those defensive ends, however, suddenly started playing differently Sunday, perhaps because the Bears parted ways with head coach Matt Eberflus, who had called the defensive plays, in the run-up to the 49ers game.

“Unfortunately for a couple of those, they had better calls than the play we called – some type of pressure or how they switched their defense up,” Kittle said. “Or we didn’t execute those blocks for him in the ways that we should have. I think Deebo’s very close to breaking them wide open. So I’m very excited for him this Thursday. Because I think he’s gonna have one of those amazing Deebo Thursday night games against the Rams. That’s what I see.”

49ers game review: Why Brock Purdy protecting Ricky Pearsall matters (paywall)

“He’s frustrated — not in the throw,” Vilma said. “He’s frustrated in Pearsall bending that route to a post instead of staying down the seam.”

Purdy’s competitiveness was evident after the throw, but his accountability was evident after the game. I’ve covered 12 starting quarterbacks in 15 seasons on the 49ers beat and none have been better than Purdy when it comes to discussing his on-field mistakes, avoiding mitigation and, yes, even lying to protect his teammates…..“I thought he was going to keep it a little bit skinnier up the field and then he saw space,” Purdy said. “So he sort of cut across and I just threw the ball early and sort of anticipated and I missed him. I think his decision on going across the middle of the field was a great decision.

“If I would’ve laid the ball right there for him, it would’ve been a touchdown. So it’s something that he and I — we talked about and I told him, ‘We’ve just got to keep growing together and learning each other and seeing each other in and out of cuts.’ But that’s something that I missed on him. He executed his job.”

49ers overreactions: Can team go on a run after win vs. Bears?

“But it might be that it’s already too late to turn their season around.

The Seattle Seahawks lead the NFC West with an 8-5 record. The 49ers are 6-7.

Seattle’s final four games are at home against Green Bay and Minnesota, and on the road at Chicago and the Los Angeles Rams.

Meanwhile, the 49ers face the Rams at home on Thursday, followed by at Miami, home against Detroit and at Arizona.

Let’s talk again if the 49ers close to within a game after this week with a win against the Rams and a Seattle loss to the Packers.”

Hutchinson: The 49ers’ pregame speeches won’t be what saves them

“Fred Warner seemed a bit uncomfortable with all of that talk, and rightfully so.

“I know there’s been talk about desperation around the building ever since that game this past Sunday,” Warner said. “I haven’t really talked about it much, because I felt like that was already the feeling the last few weeks. It just hadn’t really come together like you wanted it to… I don’t want it to get lost that we didn’t go out there in Green Bay, we didn’t go out there in Buffalo saying, ‘Let’s just hope that we win.’ Like, trust me, I felt desperate as hell going into both those games. It just didn’t work out.”

The 49ers’ deserved credit for the resounding win. Credit was given. Having Purdy and Lenoir speak up was a smart move on Shanahan’s part, and mature on theirs.

But to hold those speeches up like they were season-altering is wildly overstating what the 49ers did Sunday and what they’ve shown us this season.”

Report: 49ers strategically restructure Hargrave’s contract

“The move reportedly drops Hargrave’s 2025 salary cap hit from $28.1 million to $10.3 million, potentially opening the door for a post-June 1 release.

The previous cost to release Hargrave would have been $28.1 million if using the June 1 designation. After the restructure, the 49ers now can cut Hargrave at a cost of just 10.3 million with a post-June 1 designation.”