San Francisco 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman is feeling great and plans to play during Saturday's exhibition game against the Indianapolis Colts. It will be his first opportunity to suit up for a game since suffering an Achilles injury last November. A hamstring injury slowed down his training camp and kept him out of the 49ers' first two preseason games.
"I'm going to play," Sherman told reporters on Wednesday.
The veteran cornerback was eager to play this past Saturday against the Houston Texans, but the 49ers decided to be cautious and hold him out. The hamstring injury gave Sherman an extra week to rest and feel even better after going through the rigors of training camp.
"I'm feeling even better now and looking forward to going out there this week," he added.
"I think he was close to [getting out there] last week," head coach Kyle Shanahan said on Sunday. "I know he definitely wanted to."
Sherman was "full go" during Tuesday's practice and looked on pace to suit up in Indianapolis. He isn't worried about his hamstring or his Achilles and made it clear that the decision to sit out the game against the Texans was not his.
"I could have played last week," Sherman said. "That's what I was trying to do and Kyle -- they held [me] back. I'm not really concerned how [my hamstring or Achilles are] going to respond. I'm more concerned about my game shape and making sure that I can still go every single play because I haven't played in eight months."
Sherman even snuck in some reps against wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins after joint practices with the Houston Texans.
"It was just one of those things where I needed to get some reps against somebody else and see his movements, react, and just getting game reps when they wouldn't let me practice," he said. "You've got the sneak them in."
While the 49ers want to ensure that Sherman is ready to go for Week 1 of the regular season, the cornerback believes it is important to get some snaps during the preseason.
"It's important just for defensive continuity," Sherman explained. "Everybody knowing where people are going to be on game day. You don't want the first time you deal with communicating with somebody else to be with live bullets out there. You want to get out there and get your communication (set). If someone can't hear or someone's not looking, you kind of want to get those tweaks out of the way."