With the Seahawks thin at running back on Sunday, they deployed receiver Rashid Shaheed in the backfield.
He got two carries for 33 yards, including a 28-yard touchdown run.
It wasn’t something the Seahawks cooked up this week, with Jadarian Price on injured reserve and Zach Charbonnet still not all the way back from a torn ACL suffered in January.
“We’ve had that in all [training] camp,” coach Mike Macdonald told reporters on Monday. “This isn’t a quote from [offensive coordinator Brian] Fleury, but felt like it was appropriate because of [Price] going down, he gave us some speed. That was cool.”
Indeed it was. Shaheed’s scoring play highlighted his speed and agility in the broken field. He’s a player who can make things happen with the ball in his hands. The more the Seahawks can make that happen, the better off they’ll be.
Through four games in 2026, Shaheed has seven catches for 73 yards and three carries for 37 yards, plus Sunday’s touchdown. He has returned nine punts for 79 yards and 10 kickoffs for 273 yards.
That’s fine. But he needs to get the ball more often.
With the Seahawks adding veteran running back Joe Mixon to the practice squad and signing running back Robert Henry Jr. from the Commanders’ practice squad, Shaheed may not be part of the running game on Sunday against the 49ers — even if he should be.
49ers Clips
49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk had to leave Sunday’s win over the Broncos with a knee injury, but early indications are that he will avoid a long absence from the lineup.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan said after the game that Juszczyk’s ACL and other ligaments appeared to be intact. Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that initial tests showed that Juszczyk hyperextended his knee and that he is expected to miss a couple of weeks, but still needs to have an MRI to confirm that belief.
Any missed time for Juszczyk would force Shanahan and the 49ers to alter some offensive plans, but they’ve become adept at that this year and in past years due to an extended run of injuries across the roster.
Juszczyk had two catches for 28 yards Sunday and he has four catches for 55 yards and a touchdown this season.
49ers quarterback Brock Purdy has put up some impressive numbers this season, including leading the NFL with a 126.2 passer rating and 11 touchdown passes. But Purdy’s most impressive number may be zero.
That’s how many times Purdy has been sacked this season: Despite throwing 113 passes, Purdy still hasn’t been sacked.
Every quarterback other than Purdy who has started all four games has been sacked at least five times this season. Purdy is the first quarterback since Peyton Manning with the 2005 Colts to start the first four games of the season and not get sacked in any of them.
Up next for the 49ers is a game in Seattle against the Seahawks, who sacked Purdy three times the last time the teams met. Whether the Seahawks can do what other defenses haven’t and sack Purdy will go a long way toward determining who wins the game — and who wins the NFC West.
After 49ers linebacker Dre Greenlaw made a tackle on the Denver sideline in the first quarter of Sunday’s win over the Broncos, he could be seen gesturing toward Broncos head coach Sean Payton while making his way back to the field.
Greenlaw wasn’t done with Payton. After the game was over, there was video — via Romi Bean of CBS News Colorado — of Greenlaw shouting while being steered away from Payton by teammate Fred Warner.
“I told him to get the f—k off the field,” Greenlaw said, via Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle. “That’s it: ‘Get the f—k off the field.’”
Greenlaw’s bad feelings for Payton stem from last season. Greenlaw signed a three-year deal with Denver before the 2025 season, but missed time with a quad injury and due to a suspension before being released in March. Greenlaw said Payton never spoke to him in the final weeks of the season and that the team did not inform him of his release personally, which led to him having some extra motivation for the game.
“The disrespect,” Greenlaw said. “He couldn’t be man to man and call my phone and say, ‘We’re going to cut you.’”
Payton said in his postgame press conference that he told 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan that he thinks “the world of” Greenlaw, but it’s safe to say that the feeling isn’t mutual.
49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan was a winner in a milestone game on Sunday.
Shanahan passed Bill Walsh for the most games as the franchise’s head coach and notched his 95th win in that role against the Broncos. Brock Purdy threw a pair of touchdowns, including a 56-yarder to tight end George Kittle just before the two minute warning in the fourth quarter.
That score pushed the 49ers’ lead to 24-14 and it remained that way until the final buzzer. Broncos kicker Wil Lutz missed a 58-yard field goal with 1:18 left to play and Purdy just took a knee from there.
Purdy’s first touchdown went to Deebo Samuel and all three of the 49ers’ trips to the end zone came in the second half. Both teams were sluggish offensively in the first half and the score was 3-3 until 4:15 was left in the third quarter. That’s when Samuel scored and that touchdown came a few plays after Broncos punt returner Marvin Mims lost a fumble. It was the only turnover for either team and it loomed large when Christian McCaffrey capped a 74-yard drive with a one-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.
The Broncos answered with Jaylen Waddle’s first touchdown for the team, but Kittle’s score snatched away all but the slimmest hopes of another Bo Nix comeback win. Nix finished the day 25-of-42 for 214 yards and the Broncos offense has been too inconsistent so far this season. That will likely lead to some questions for head coach Sean Payton about whether he’s considering taking back the playcalling responsibilities in the future.
Payton will also face some questions about his team’s health. Cornerbacks Pat Surtain II and Riley Moss were both forced out of the game with injuries and wide receiver Pat Bryant joined them in the locker room after being carted off the field in the third quarter. They’ll hope to have some or all of them back when they face the Chargers in Week 5.
Purdy was 19-of-30 for 218 yards and McCaffrey finished the day with 70 scrimmage yards. Wide receiver Mike Evans had five catches for 76 yards while dealing with a rib injury and the list of injured 49ers grew to include fullback Kyle Juszczyk when he left with a knee injury.
They’ll hope to have him back next Sunday for a trip to Seattle that will determine the early leader in the NFC West race.
The 49ers are trying to close out a win over the Broncos on Sunday afternoon and they won’t have the help of fullback Kyle Juszczyk the rest of the way.
Juszczyk left the game with a knee injury early in the fourth quarter and the 49ers have now ruled him out for the remainder of the contest. They also announced that cornerback Upton Stout is questionable to return with a shoulder injury.
The Broncos have also been hit by several injuries. Cornerbacks Pat Surtain II and Riley Moss have been ruled out while wide receiver Pat Bryant is questionable to return from an ankle injury.
Jaylen Waddle’s first touchdown as a Bronco cut the 49ers’ lead to 17-12 and running Tyler Badie converted on a run to make it a three-point game with 4:05 left to play.
Injuries are starting to mount for the Broncos in the second half of their game against the 49ers.
Wide receiver Pat Bryant had to be carted off at the end of a 31-yard gain in the third quarter. The team has not announced anything about his status, but it appeared to be a lower body injury of some kind for the wideout.
Bryant’s injury came shortly after the Broncos announced that cornerbacks Pat Surtain II and Riley Moss have both been ruled out for the rest of the game. Surtain has an ankle injury and Moss hurt his ribs.
The Broncos trail 10-3 at the end of the third quarter.
We finally have a touchdown in Denver.
The 49ers and Broncos couldn’t find the end zone for the first 40 minutes of Sunday’s game, but the first turnover of the afternoon was followed by the first touchdown. 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy hit wide receiver Deebo Samuel for a two-yard score and the 49ers lead 10-3 with 4:15 to play in the third quarter.
Purdy only had to drive the 49ers 28 yards for a score because Siran Neal forced and recovered a fumble by Broncos punt returner Marvin Mims to get the ball back in the offense’s hands.
Purdy is 13-of-23 for 103 yards and he’s also run seven times for 29 yards.
The Broncos have punted the last four times they’ve had the ball and will need to change that streak to have a chance at pulling out a win this Sunday. They won’t have the help of cornerbacks Pat Surtain II and Riley Moss as they try to rally. Both players have been ruled out after suffering injuries earlier in the game.
The Broncos have lost both of their starting cornerbacks to injuries.
Pat Surtain II limped off with an ankle injury late in the first half of the game and the team is calling him questionable to return. They have given Riley Moss the same tag thanks to injured ribs.
The 49ers have not been able to take much advantage of the missing pieces in the Broncos secondary. They opened the second half with a three-and-out and have now punted three times, failed to convert a fourth down and had a field goal blocked over the course of the afternoon.
The score is 3-3 with just over 10 minutes to play in the third quarter.
The Broncos suffered a big loss just before halftime of Sunday’s game against the 49ers.
Cornerback Pat Surtain II pulled up with a non-contact injury while in coverage on the 49ers’ final offensive possession of the second quarter. Surtain limped off the field and went directly to the locker room with assistance from members of the Broncos’ medical staff.
That 49ers drive continued long enough for the team to try a field goal on the final play of the half, but Eddy Pineiro’s kick was blocked and the two teams went into halftime tied 3-3.
Both offenses have struggled to find consistent ways to move the ball, but the 49ers have shown a bit more life with 190 yards and nine first downs so far. If Surtain is out the rest of the way, they could find more success than they did in the first 30 minutes.
UPDATE 6:08 p.m. ET: Surtain is called questionable to return with an ankle injury.
