Richard Sherman briefly left the San Francisco 49ers' Week 13 game against the Baltimore Ravens in the fourth quarter due to a right knee sprain. He re-entered and toughed through the pain but was seen after the game with a noticeable limp, forcing many to wonder if the veteran cornerback would be available for this weekend's big NFC showdown against the New Orleans Saints.
Sherman practiced on Wednesday and Thursday. Although, he was limited. Head coach Kyle Shanahan even joked on Wednesday about how the team was able to get its star cornerback on the practice field again.
"Did some Mr. Miyagi stuff on him," Shanahan told reporters.
Sherman said on Thursday that he is feeling good and wanted to make sure he got on the practice field so he could prepare for quarterback Drew Brees and the Saints.
"I'm feeling pretty good," Sherman said. "The longer you play in this game, you know what you can play through. You know how different injuries will affect you throughout the week, and I knew what I was dealing with when it happened. I just needed a couple of days to figure it out and get it together, and I was able to do it."
Shanahan joined KNBR on Friday morning and said he expects Sherman to be ready for Sunday's game.
"He's on track, right now," Shanahan told Adam Copeland, Tony Rhein, and Donte Whitner. "If it was any other guy, and you talked to the doctors, especially what you hear after a Sunday, it sounds like it's a long shot for him playing. But then the way Sherm talks right away, and the fact that we've been around him and seen him do it week after week, you really never consider that until it comes to the time."
Shanahan knows the decision is ultimately his, and sometimes you have to make those tough decisions to protect players, like Sherman. The coach knows the type of player Sherman is. He will always decide to fight through any discomfort to be on the field with his teammates. Sherman did so for much of last season, after all.
Added Shanahan: "By no means is he 100 percent healed. He's working through it, and I think he'll still continue to get better by Sunday. ... He might get mad at me if I decide [he can't play], which I totally understand, but it's going to be hard for me to keep Sherm out if he keeps practicing like he has."
You can listen to the entire conversation with Shanahan below.