BREIDA WILL TEST ANKLE VS. SEATTLE
Running back, who missed last week’s game, cleared to play in Sunday’s game
Running back Matt Breida will play Sunday against Seattle after missing last week’s game with an ankle injury. SANTA CLARA >> Running back Matt Breida’s pursuit of a 1,000-yard season appears ready to resume Sunday when the 49ers host the Seattle Seahawks.
“As long as everything keeps going the way it has, they gave me the green light and I’ll be ready to go,” Breida said Friday.
Inactive last game to rest his season-long ankle injury, Breida was limited in practice all week and is officially listed as questionable.
With rain in the forecast, the 49ers (3-10) could rely more on running the ball in their upset bid against the Seahawks (8-5). Seattle will be without one of its three main rushers, as Rashaad Penny (knee) got ruled out Friday.
Coach Kyle Shanahan said Breida is “much better” than last week and “hopefully” will remain healthy enough to play. If so, Breida said of his strategy against the Seahawks: “You’ve got to go out and be physical. They’re a good team and they don’t make a lot of mistakes.”
Breida (744 rushing yards, three touchdowns) has been the 49ers’ workhorse since Jerick McKinnon went out with a knee injury a week before the season opener. Breida’s goal these final three games isn’t a selfish one, as he said he merely wants “to UP NEXT
Seahawks (8-5) at 49ers (3-10), Sunday, 1:05 p.m., FOX
see the team grow and win, and see young guys get better.”
Breida’s ankle injury flared up in warmups before the 49ers lost 43-16 at Seattle on Dec. 2, and he got pulled after five carries for six yards. Rookie Jeff Wilson Jr. took over as the main back afterward and started last Sunday’s win over the Denver Broncos (23 carries, 90 yards).
• To commemorate Kyle Shanahan’s 39th birthday Friday, the 49ers offensive line had an elaborate plan go awry in the team’s offensive meeting. “I had to ask him to sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to himself, because it’s an offensive line rookie tradition,” right tackle Mike McGlinchey said.
Shanahan’s take: “I’m not a rookie. They made him sing it, which was just as painful for me.” Known to croon well on the local karaoke circuit, McGlinchey noted: “It wasn’t my best performance because I was on the spot. But all in good fun.”
• Defensive end Arik Armstead is having his best season since being drafted in the 2015 first round, but it still doesn’t assure that he will return next season on the $9 million option the 49ers can back out of by March.
“I wouldn’t say anything on our team is solidified. We’re going to take all of that into account at the end of the year,” Shanahan said. “But, Armstead is a very good player who, there’s no doubt that I don’t want to lose him and I don’t think anyone in this building wants to lose good players. Hopefully that’ll work out.
“It’s not as simple as just him though. It has to do with how you want to allocate everything. But, the one thing I do know is that I’ve been very happy with how Arik has played this year. I still think he can get a lot better and hopefully it’s here with us.”
• After faring well last game, the 49ers’ barrage of young replacements earned encores to face the Seahawks, a group that figures to include nose tackle D.J. Jones, linebacker Elijah Lee and defensive backs D.J. Reed and Marcell Harris. “The guys who got on opportunity did a good job,” Shanahan said.
Safety Jaquiski Tartt (shoulder) is out for a second straight game and the sixth time this season. Harris will start in his place, and either Reed or Antone Exum could be the free safety, although Reed might get action again at nickel back in place of K’Waun Williams (questionable; knee)
All 49ers practiced Friday, but several are questionable after being limited: Breida, Williams, wide receivers Marquise Goodwin (calf) and Dante Pettis (foot), defensive end Cassius Marsh (concussion) and linebacker Mark Nzeocha (groin).
• Win No. 9 of Shanahan’s 49ers tenure was well documented in the form of his mic’d-up audio. And while Shanahan’s offensive scheme is notoriously complex with lengthy play calls, some signals can be abbreviated, or appear that way in an edited version via NFL Films. A sample of those calls: “Far Right Nasty,” “Big Fly,” “Turbo,” “Zelda,” “14 Diablo,” “XDragon,” “Charger,” and “Chocolate Door.”
“I can’t tell you what those mean, but they relate to the type of plays we’re running,” Shanahan said. “It’s not just totally random words.
“Chocolate had to do with Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory which has to do with the play, that would be obvious but I can’t say it or you’ll know our groupings.”
Tight end George Kittle said he doesn’t play a role in that “fun” play known as “Chocolate Door.” He also said his 85-yard touchdown reception came on a play that doesn’t have a catchy name, other than: “Pass 34, split-x right on Z cross.”
• Aside from Penny, the Seahawks also ruled out linebacker K.J. Wright and safety Maurice Alexander. Guard D.J. Fluker is doubtful, while the questionable Seahawks are wide receiver Doug Baldwin, safety Bradley McDougald and defensive tackle Jarran Reed.