Defense meeting pays off with win
49ers look to build off victory over Rams
SANTA CLARA >> The night before its best game this season, before allowing its fewest points in a game to stun the Rams, the 49ers’ defense closed its meeting room doors to hear from its captains.
“I asked them to speak to the guys who voted them as captains,” defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans said Thursday. “They were voted captains for a reason — because men in that locker room saw something different in those three guys, and they want to follow their lead.”
So what did Jimmie Ward, Fred Warner and Arik Armstead get off their chest Sunday night?
Well, Ward emphasized to defensive backs that they needed to force turnovers, Armstead demanded a stronger pass rush and Warner wanted linebackers to execute better than in their dismal 31-17 loss to Arizona.
What followed was a 31-10 lambasting, starting with Ward’s two interceptions in two series.
“We emphasized the defense should win the game for us, and we went out there and played our best,” Ward said
Ward is a first-year captain. He is the 49ers’ starting free safety, a role known in-house as “The Eraser” to stop mistakes in their tracks, although he could do little to prevent the defense’s wave of early-season pass-interference penalties.
Ward is also the 49ers’ longest-tenured player, dating back to his 2014 firstround selection by thengeneral manager Trent Baalke, who now holds that position with the Jacksonville Jaguars, this Sunday’s host.
Ward both expressed gratitude toward Baalke — “I don’t know what his options were with the 30th pick. But I appreciate the opportunity and I’m still here” — and also got something off his chest about a postgame critique Baalke gave (in which Ward said Baalke was wrong about his coverage assignment).
“I’ve been waiting eight years to get that off my chest,” Ward said, alluding to how Baalke was wrong about Ward’s coverage assignment during a game against the New York Giants.
Ryans didn’t call on his captains to fix team chemistry, however.
“I’ve never felt a disconnection from our defense,” Ryans said. “I just wanted our captains to talk to the team, to change it up, to let the guys who are the leaders speak to the team. We have a really great locker room all the way around.”
Linebacker Azeez AlShaair called the Cardinals’ game the worst of his career, and that Sunday night’s players’ meeting was about “bringing everybody together, believing in each other” like a tight-knit family.
“When you realize these are the guys you spend so much time with over the years, you fight with each other to turn things around and be as good as you can be to reach your whole potential,” Al-Shaair said.
Ward’s message this week: Don’t take lightly the Jaguars (2-7), adding: “There were a lot of games they were in it and they’re pretty physical team.” MITCHELL UPDATE >> Running back Elijah Mitchell’s surgically repaired finger on his right hand was wrapped with a bandage rather than protected by a cast. Mitchell wore a no-contact jersey as he stretched on the side but did not practice, nor did fellow running back JaMycal Hasty (ankle).
Mitchell is the 49ers’ leading rusher with 469 yards. He missed the 49ers’ losses to Green Bay and Seattle because of a shoulder injury.
Jeff Wilson Jr. looks in line to make his sixth career start, which would be his first since last season’s finale. He had 10 carries (27 yards) in Monday’s debut after recovering from May meniscus surgery on his right knee.
DANCING DOOMS DANIELS >>
Defensive tackle Darrion Daniels’ season ended Wednesday when he got hurt dancing in pregame warmups, apparently from an Achilles injury, according to a league source. (Team rules prevent the media from posting video of him getting injured.)
“Darrion’s a high-energy guy who’s done a good job for us,” Ryans said. “It’s unfortunate what happened to him. I know he’ll bounce back just fine.”
Daniels won scout-team honors last week for impersonating the Rams’ Aaron Donald in practice. Daniels has spent all season on the practice squad, after playing four games last season as an undrafted rookie from Nebraska.
Replacing Daniels on the practice squad is defensive lineman Chris Slayton, a 6-foot-4, 307-pounder who was a 2019 seventh-round draft pick of the New York Giants.
SHOTGUN SWITCH >> Offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel said coach Kyle Shanahan pressured the staff in 2019 to evolve their shotgun packages, and, in the past few weeks, Jimmy Garoppolo
has thrived with a higher percentage of shotgun snaps.
But it’s not just because Garoppolo looks more decisive and quickly can throw into tight windows. Also, “we’ve been playing with younger (running backs) lately, because of various circumstances,” McDaniel said. “One thing about college football is a lot is out of shotgun. So, with rookies, you learn they’re more comfortable now doing that.” NOTES >> Defensive lineman Mo Hurst (calf) and Dee Ford (back) are conditioning for comebacks. Hurst missed the past three games but was not placed on injured reserve for a second time this season. Ford must sit out at least one more game before being eligible to come off IR.
The 49ers Foundation, along with flagship radio station KNBR, will host a fundraising auction from 8 a.m. Nov. 30 to 7 p.m. Dec. 1. Packages include experiences with Jerry Rice, Steve Young, John Lynch and Joe Staley, plus memorabilia from Joe Montana, George Kittle, Deebo Samuel, Trey Lance and others. All can be seen at 49ers.com/give.