SANTA CLARA -- With injuries mounting in the 49ers’ defensive backfield, the team recently reached out to provide safety Eric Reid with a one-year contract offer, a league source confirmed.
Defensive coordinator Robert Saleh said it was an obvious move after injuries have limited starting safeties Jaquiski Tartt and Adrian Colbert. The 49ers need more depth at the position while Tartt and Colbert remain questionable for Sunday's game against the Los Angeles Chargers.
“Any time you have an opportunity to add a good football player, when the opportunity presents itself, obviously E-Reid is familiar with our system,” Saleh said. “We know him and we’re comfortable with him. Obviously, it didn’t work out, but any time you have that opportunity, you explore it.”
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SIGN UP HERE Reid on Thursday signed a one-year contract with the Carolina Panthers. There was nothing special or noble about that transaction, 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman said.
“I always knew he’d get signed,” Sherman said. “He’s a good player. A lot worse players are getting signed these days.
“A football team signing a good football player isn’t really a landmark, in my opinion. It’s kind of too little, too late for it to be a landmark. Now, if somebody had signed him in March and gave him the deal he deserved, then sure. That would’ve been incredible. But at this point, it’s not a landmark of any kind.”
Sherman’s calf sidelines him
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Sherman said the mid-calf strain that's expected to keep him sidelined for at least two weeks has nothing to do with compensating for his left Achilles surgery or the bone spurs removed from his right heel.
But Sherman said the inactivity as he recovered from those procedures are likely the cause of his current condition.
“It's just me not playing in eight months and getting back out there and pulling through the trials and tribulations of a season, the wear and tear of football and taking all these after not taking them for eight months,” said Sherman, who is wearing an orthopedic boot on his right foot. “Your body has to get used to doing it again.”
Tacklers need to ‘step on toes’
The 49ers’ coaches took a deep dive into the team’s issues with missing tackles. And the conclusion is that the team’s defenders too often are diving at opposing ball carriers.
"It’s very clear when you turn on the tape, we’re lunging and ducking our heads at the point of attack,” Saleh said.
Linebacker Reuben Foster had six of the 49ers’ 17 missed tackles last week in Kansas City, according to Pro Football Focus. He described where he must make improvements.
“Just having your head down and not running your feet and just not stepping on toes,” Foster said. “That’s uncalled for, just missing tackles like that.”
Saleh and Foster described the act of “stepping on toes,” as running through the tackle, putting a body on the opponent, wrapping up and driving through the player. Too often, the 49ers’ would-be tackler has gotten within range and left his feet.
