Runningback depth a relief in wake of injury to Coleman
The 49ers’ NFC Championship Game win came with a notable loss.
Running back Tevin Coleman sustained what appeared to be serious shoulder injury in the second quarter of their 3720 win over Green Bay, which puts his availability for Super Bowl LIV on Feb. 2 against the Chiefs in question.
Coleman, who was carted off after he had trouble even walking with the injury, said he would have an MRI exam Monday.
“I don’t know,” he said of his chances of playing in the Super Bowl. “I hope so.”
Coleman gained 4 yards on the play, to the Green Bay 9. But he appeared to land awkwardly on his arm and remained on the ground for several minutes.
Coleman gained 105 yards on 22 carries in a divisionalround victory over Minnesota on Jan. 11. He also hurt his elbow in that game. Coleman had 21 yards on six carries at the time of Sunday’s injury.
The 49ers are equipped to weather Coleman’s absence, with Raheem Mostert and Matt Breida. Mostert had the secondmost rushing yards (220) in a playoff game and became one of three players to have four rushing touchdowns. Family affair: Kyle Shanahan received a postgame surprise: His dad, Mike, handed him the George H. Halas Trophy, given to the NFC champion.
Mike Shanahan was named an honorary game captain by CEO Jed York. The father and son embraced after the trophy was exchanged.
“It was pretty special,” Kyle Shanahan said. “To have a trophy handed to you by anyone is really cool. Jed making my dad an honorary captain … Jed planned all that. It was pretty cool. I didn’t know what was going on. But it was pretty special.”
Mike Shanahan was the 49ers’ offensive coordinator in 1994, when they won their last
Super Bowl title. He later won two Super Bowls with the Broncos.
What does he like about this 49ers team?
“You can tell they play for each other,” Mike Shanahan said. “They play hard. You can tell they care about one another.” Loud Levi’s: Kyle Shanahan, who had fond memories of attending games at Candlestick
Park, admitted he was initially underwhelmed by the atmosphere at Levi’s Stadium in his first season in 2017.
“I get that everything’s different in the new stadium,” Shanahan said. “And I kind of looked at our record and kind of understood why. You can’t judge a stadium off that. Especially our first year, starting 09. And going 412 last year.”
The first time Shanahan thought Levi’s could be as raucous as it was Sunday? He pointed to a Christmas Eve win over Jacksonville in the penultimate game of the 2017 season.
“That was the first time that I really sensed that our fans were hungry and they were going to go wherever we went,” Shanahan said. “We had to give them something to be excited about.”