Sunday’s road win over the Eagles gave the 49ers plenty of reason to celebrate, but the locker room party was muted a bit due to tight end George Kittle’s injury.
Kittle tore his Achilles after catching a pass in the second quarter of the game. 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said after the win that the injury was diagnosed on the field and called it a “depressing play for everyone.” Running back Christian McCaffrey touched on that as well while discussing the impact that losing Kittle will have on the Niners.
“This team has carried the character of George Kittle throughout the entire year, and since I got traded here, he’s the heart and soul of this team,” McCaffrey said, via 49ersWebzone.com. “And so, it’s a tough loss. When he’s not playing, it means a lot. But he’s somebody that, even going through something that he had to go through, and us finding a way to finish, he’s the first guy in the locker room smiling, bumping music, happy for his teammates. And when you lose a leader like that, you never really lose them because his presence is still in this locker room, his energy is still here, and he’s a leader, and the heart and soul of this team. And so, we’re praying for him, love him, and we’re going to play for him the rest of the way.”
Kittle’s loss is a significant one, but if there’s any positive spin for the 49ers it is that they’ve grown accustomed to winning despite missing key players all season. They’ll try to pick up another one in Seattle on Saturday.
The 49ers have left the door open for linebacker Fred Warner to return to action in the playoffs, but it isn’t likely to happen in the divisional round.
Warner was seen working on the side at practices leading up to Sunday’s win over the Eagles, which led to a question for head coach Kyle Shanahan about his status in his postgame press conference. Shanahan was asked about the chances that Warner is formally designated to return to action before the team’s trip to Seattle next Saturday night.
“Not very high,” Shanahan said, via 49ersWebzone.com.
Shanahan has previously pointed to the conference championship game as a potential return date for Warner. The 49ers have a chance to get there, but they’ll now have to do it without tight end George Kittle as well as Warner and several others who have suffered serious injuries over the course of the season.
The games have been set. The dates have been picked.
And that’s all we know, for now, about the divisional round of the playoffs.
The NFL has announced that Bills at Broncos and 49ers at Seahawks will be played on Saturday, January 17. On Sunday, January 18, the Bears will host the Rams and the winner of Monday night’s Texans-Steelers game will travel to New England for a game against the Patriots.
However, the league has not assigned a time to any of the games, or a network.
Between NBC, Fox, CBS, and ESPN, each will have one of the games. The Saturday contests will kick off at 4:30 p.m. ET and 8:00 p.m. ET. On Sunday, the games will start at 3:00 p.m. ET and 6:30 p.m. ET.
The Bills and 49ers will play on six days’ rest, against teams that will be going two weeks between games. (The Seahawks will have had 15 days between the Week 18 game and the division-round contest.)
The rest of the schedule will be set after Monday night’s game, when either the Texans or Steelers will earn a ticket to Gillette Stadium on Sunday.
The 49ers lost to the Seahawks at home in Week 18, but that isn’t dimming wide receiver Jauan Jennings’ enthusiasm about next weekend’s divisional round game in Seattle.
Jennings’ 29-yard touchdown pass to running back Christian McCaffrey on the first play of the fourth quarter helped the 49ers to their 23-19 win over the Eagles and he found out who the 49ers will be playing in their next game during an on-field interview with Mike Garafolo of NFL Media. Jennings channelled former Jets linebacker Bart Scott with his response.
“Let’s go, I can’t wait,” Jennings said. “That’s who we wanted.”
Jennings also threw a touchdown pass for the 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII and the 49ers are hoping that Sunday’s throw will be part of a run that leads them back to Levi’s Stadium for another title tilt.
It was another long day for the Eagles’ offense. And it was another quiet showing for receiver A.J. Brown. After the 23-19 loss, Brown stayed quiet.
Via NBC Sports Philadelphia, Brown declined to speak to reporters after the game.
It’s not the first time he has done it. He’ll possibly have something to say on social media, or during the annual clean-out of the locker room.
If Brown had spoken, he surely would have been asked about the first-half interaction with coach Nick Sirianni, And Brown may have been asked whether he wants to be traded in the offseason.
Possibly to New England, where he’d be reunited with his former head coach in Tennessee.
