- 7 months ago
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00:00We're taking it day by day.
00:02I think they said last week, they weren't going to open my window.
00:09And then my window is now open.
00:11So yeah, we're just taking it day by day.
00:16End quote.
00:17Love it.
00:18Bet I don't even need to say who said that.
00:20Fred Warner?
00:22That would be Fred Warner.
00:23Yeah.
00:24Looked good.
00:25Looked good when I saw the video yesterday of him backpedaling and cutting.
00:29And catching soft toss balls, throwing right at him.
00:32He looks like he might be able to give it a go.
00:36I mean.
00:37What an emotional lift that would be.
00:39I know that like earlier this year, remember Ricky Pearsall kept running at practice.
00:43And then they wouldn't play him.
00:45And then Kyle did that whole like, no, there's like speed markers and things that you need to hit.
00:51To show that you're actually ready for NFL speed.
00:54I don't love the comp.
00:56What's that?
00:57I don't love the comparison to Ricky Pearsall.
00:58Fred Warner played the entire year last year, basically on a fractured ankle.
01:02Actually, I'm not comparing him to Ricky Pearsall.
01:05I'm simply mentioning that they're like, just because someone can run and they show a video of it.
01:10I think it goes.
01:12But again, like, yeah.
01:15Why would I?
01:16I'm not raining on this parade.
01:18No.
01:19And, you know, Drake Greenlaw fought his way all the way back to be able to play in the Super Bowl.
01:24And, you know, it ended badly.
01:26But the guy was, you know, able to fight his way back.
01:29And, you know, we always talk about the vibes of this team and the emotions and, you know, what they've been as a group.
01:35If Fred Warner's able to go out there and run on the field, 54, and give it a go, imagine what that would do to the guys in the locker room, let alone us as fans.
01:44We would lose our minds.
01:46But the team, if 54 was able to give it a go, that would be huge.
01:50Even if it turned out to be like Willis Reed.
01:53And we all talk about the Willis Reed game.
01:55Willis Reed scored, I think, four points in that game.
01:57He didn't play that many minutes.
01:59Right.
02:00But the emotional.
02:00The Willis Reed game, yeah.
02:02Do you want to hear from a teammate who talked about just that?
02:04Here's Trent Williams.
02:06For me, personally, you know, I just think the fact that Fred even has a jersey on less than 100 days after what happened to him, that's just uplift the team.
02:16That's motivation, you know.
02:17Having him there, just having his face in his locker room, it's motivation.
02:21It helps everybody, you know.
02:22So, yeah, I think getting him in the wake of losing Kittle, does it make the loss any easier?
02:26No, but I do think that it does give us a little bit of boost of energy just seeing his face.
02:33I think so.
02:34That's exactly what you just said.
02:36And then here's Fred himself.
02:38Being back, having the practice jersey on again, being back out there today with the helmet on and running around with the guys, I'm sure it'll be great.
02:44But I'll have time to reminisce on all that after it's all over.
02:48My only goal right now is to have the best day of the day to have a chance to be in Seattle.
02:52Okay.
02:53Focused on Seattle.
02:54Here's Robert Sala.
02:55I have just pure energy.
02:56Fred's the ultimate energy giver, so just having him out there is awesome.
03:01So, you know, yesterday was a little bit more tempo down, but today, obviously with higher tempo, it'll be fun to get him out there and see him running around.
03:07How about another teammate, just other side of the ball?
03:09I think his name is Brock Purdy.
03:11Yeah, it's pretty cool, man.
03:12Obviously, you know, Fred is different from anybody else in terms of, you know, he can be labeled as having a, you know, season-ending injury,
03:20and then all of a sudden just go hard on the rehab and get right just in case there is an opportunity.
03:24And so here we are.
03:25And it's pretty cool because he's done every little thing right.
03:28Just being around the locker room and stuff and being around in the weight room at practice, it's just cool because you can feel him and his presence.
03:34And guys are like, man, like, 54 is right there around the corner.
03:37And obviously we do our job, handle our business, then we can get him back, which would be really cool.
03:41Guys feed off that.
03:42He's the captain here, man.
03:43He's the guy that we all follow.
03:45So, and he set the standard of, you know, really how we play here.
03:48So to get him back would be, you know, really, really cool.
03:50So Purdy kind of takes Kyle's line of, like, we got to go win a game so that we could get him back out there.
03:56And what I've noticed throughout, hell, all the years of watching sports, but particularly if you want to dig into the injury thing with the Niners this year,
04:05they usually don't get very definitive.
04:08They'll give you a clue, but it's rare that they'll get definitive, especially on a Wednesday, about somebody's availability.
04:17The Niners have not ruled anything out, but a couple of them have openly talked about how this is not the week.
04:24And I just wonder if they're playing possum a little bit.
04:28I wonder if they're just like, no, we're completely, no chance we're going to over-promise and under-deliver.
04:36But is there a chance that they are under-promising in the hopes of over-delivering?
04:43Like, do you think Fred's actually got a shot?
04:45Absolutely.
04:45To play this week?
04:46Absolutely.
04:46But as I was mentioning to Grandy, I was mentioning to Grandy yesterday, one thing you have to keep in mind is what it does to your special teams.
04:54Because Fred doesn't play special teams.
04:56So if you elevate him, somebody comes off the active roster who probably is a special teamer who you might need,
05:03because your special teams weren't great without Gifford last weekend, and hopefully he's able to come back.
05:08So it's more than just, Fred, can you give us 30 snaps?
05:11Well, if he's going to come back and play, you want him to be Fred, which is you play every down.
05:16You don't come off on the sub-packages.
05:18You play in the nickel.
05:19You play in the dime.
05:21You want to at least have him be in a spot where he could potentially play all the downs.
05:26I hear you.
05:27I don't know how realistic it is after that time away to come back and be an every-down player.
05:32But as a lot of these guys are saying, like, this is a different cap, man.
05:35The fact that he's even out of practice right now is bananas.
05:38So, like, I don't know.
05:41But usually when guys come back from injuries like this, they get eased back in.
05:45To a certain degree.
05:46Tough to ease, though, in the divisional round, you know?
05:49That's my thing.
05:50Yeah, week nine, you can ease it up.
05:51But, like, right now, if you're going to take one of the 46 game-day spots, we need you to be somebody who can be at least close to what you normally are.
06:01Let's take some calls.
06:02888-957-9570.
06:05Are you one of those, and I'm going to say this with all the love, is it an odd bird situation where you suddenly now think this week they got a better shot to move on than last week?
06:17I get it.
06:18They legitimized themselves last week.
06:20Like, now they're officially, like, when you win one playoff game, people will already be like, you're on a run.
06:25It's like a streak, even though you've only won one time.
06:29But it legitimized them.
06:31I think that people look at this and go, I'd almost rather be the team in this matchup that lost last time because you're the team that gets to adjust.
06:39The other team's like, let's go do the exact same thing.
06:42It worked last time.
06:43Maybe it won't work this time.
06:45Football doesn't usually work that way.
06:46I don't know.
06:47Maybe we're just trying to convince ourselves there's a chance.
06:51I don't know.
06:51Well, there's definitely a chance.
06:53Well, yeah, they're in the game.
06:54And we talked to Greg Cosell later today and talk about what he sees on the film.
06:58But, you know, you beat Seattle once.
07:00They beat you.
07:00And the way they beat you last time is, you know, pretty authoritative, in my opinion.
07:05It was.
07:05Now you're down George Kittle.
07:07So you're allowed to go up there and win, as you like to say.
07:09But it's a tall order.
07:11And as I was saying yesterday to Grandy, you've got to play a clean game.
07:14Cleaner than you played against Philadelphia, even.
07:16And that was pretty clean, other than the two purdy picks.
07:19Let's go to Fred in Richmond to lead us off.
07:21Hi, Fred.
07:22Thank you for calling Willard and Dibs.
07:26Hey, what's going on, guys?
07:28Thanks for having me on.
07:29Yeah, what's up, Fred?
07:30Man, I'm just stoked for this Saturday, man.
07:33I am a Niner fan since 83, and that was when I was born.
07:38It's a family tradition.
07:40I actually seen our last Super Bowl, Steve Young, the 94-95 season, if I'm not mistaken.
07:46I'm pretty sure I'm saying it right.
07:49Yep, you got it.
07:50Yeah, I know the Kittle injury is devastating, but, you know, I believe in Tungens.
07:58And I think Shanahan offense is going to show something different this week.
08:05That last game of the season, I felt like Shanahan didn't have the offense prepared because that defense, it's a divisional type of game.
08:15You know, we see them two times a year.
08:17I don't think Shanahan really had his coaching ability, like that skill, that scheme.
08:27I feel like he's going to really scheme it up this Saturday.
08:30And if we throw the first punch, Seattle will be in trouble because I don't believe in Sam Darnold at all.
08:38I'm sorry.
08:38Even when he was a 49er, I didn't believe in him.
08:41And I know that's bad to say, but Sam Darnold, he sees ghosts.
08:46Oh, my God.
08:49But thanks for having me on, y'all.
08:50I'm telling you, we will be back on here on Monday.
08:54Happy as hell.
08:55Thanks for having me on, y'all.
08:56Call us again, Fred.
08:57Thank you very much.
08:58Calling for a victory Monday.
08:59Love it, Fred.
09:00Well, listen, there are a couple things that are inherently different in this football game that I don't know if we've totally acknowledged yet.
09:08And this is completely separate from Fred Warner.
09:11I know people go, ooh, they dominated you there.
09:13And now they're at home.
09:14And now they're arrested.
09:15And now they're this.
09:16And now they're that.
09:17These are all true things.
09:20Also true is that Trent Williams will play in this game.
09:24And Trent Williams did not play in the last game.
09:26Kyle Shanahan called this a different team when Trent plays.
09:31And I think that's true.
09:32Ricky Pearsall might play.
09:34Will that help the separation?
09:35I don't know.
09:36To me, job number one, though, is totally focused on Trent.
09:41Job number one for the 49ers for this game to not look like the one two weeks ago is Brock needs time.
09:49That offensive line has got to block better this game.
09:54And I think you don't need to be smart to know they got a better chance to do that with Trent Williams than they did without.
10:01Certainly, but they have a tougher time of it when you don't have George Kittle, who chooses in on pass protection.
10:08And one thing I was thinking about is not having George Kittle makes it a little bit more of a telegraphed offense.
10:14When you have Tonjes on the field, you're more likely to pass the ball because he's a better pass catcher.
10:20When you have Farrell out there, you're thinking it's more likely going to be a run play.
10:24And so Juszczyk is going to be key in this game as kind of Kittle light where you're going to line him up a lot more, I think, on the line of scrimmager in his little wing position where he halfway faces the quarterback.
10:36And he won't just be a primary lead blocker.
10:39As he wasn't against Philly, he became Kittle light in that fourth quarter.
10:43He was out there catching a bunch of passes.
10:45So Shanahan, the genius, is going to have to really dig deep in his bag of tricks and figure out ways to keep Seattle's defense off balance.
10:53I also loved, and was it Baldy yesterday?
10:56Somebody came on with the guys in the morning and said,
11:00Look, everybody gets into the defensive schemes and everybody gets into one-on-one matchups.
11:08If you can just, and they actually, maybe it was Schlereth with you guys.
11:12Was it Stinker was talking about tackling?
11:14Yep.
11:14Just tackle.
11:16If you just tackle, you got a good chance to at least keep a game close.
11:22And my mind keeps going to that game against Seattle.
11:25It's what Shanahan and Salah kept screaming about.
11:29Tackle.
11:29They only missed 17, Mark.
11:31That's not schematic.
11:33That's functional.
11:34And that's fixable.
11:35Not five.
11:36Not six.
11:37Not seven.
11:38And in that Seattle game, you were trotting out your young, albeit faster and maybe more talented linebackers,
11:45Dee Winters, Tatum, Bethune.
11:47But they missed a lot of tackles.
11:50And now you're putting in more veteran guys.
11:54Come on, Thurm.
11:54Yeah.
11:54You're putting in Kendricks and Wallow.
11:56And they've got more reps underneath.
11:59And they played really well.
12:00And guess what?
12:01What did they do well on Sunday?
12:03They tackled.
12:04They tackled.
12:04And the secondary did as well.
12:06And even when Kendricks and Wallow didn't finish it off, you had Mustafa rallying up.
12:11You had Lenore who made a couple of tackles.
12:13Seagull.
12:13Seagull.
12:14Seagull off the scrap heap.
12:15He's probably going to be in there this week.
12:16Right.
12:17So it's a lot more than just, you know, having fast linebackers.
12:21You do have to tackle.
12:22And Seattle was an amazing tackling team in that Week 18 game.
12:27Every time you would have a play that, you know, George Kittle out in space, minus six
12:32yards, because they would just roll up and put them on the ground.
12:35So those are things that are repeatable.
12:38Seattle's defense is really good at all three levels.
12:40And they're healthy.
12:42They've been together.
12:42And they have a great scheme.
12:43So you have to find ways to not hope they make mistakes.
12:47You have to find ways to just beat them.
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