The Seattle Seahawks brought back Marshawn Lynch to fill in for an injury-depleted running back group as the team prepares for its Week 17 showdown with the San Francisco 49ers. There has been a lot of speculation about what the reunion means for the Seahawks and their upcoming playoff push.
How much can Lynch contribute over a year removed from playing football? Is he in football shape? Will he be the Lynch of old who used to terrorize 49ers (and NFL) defenses?
The 49ers insist the addition of Lynch doesn't mean much as far as preparation facing the returning running back rather than regular starter Chris Carson.
"Carson's a big bruising back, very similar to how Marshawn is," defensive coordinator Robert Saleh told reporters on Thursday. "So, the tackling plan, all that stuff, is still the same."
Head coach Kyle Shanahan joined KNBR on Thursday and further explained why the Seahawks' addition of Lynch and some other injuries don't change the game plan.
"I've looked at the injuries they've had, and to me, nothing's going to change," Shanahan told Guy Haberman and John Middlekauff. "They're left tackle is out, which he was out last week, and you can't change your entire game plan up when you're missing one O-lineman. You might help him more in protections, but that's about all you can do.
"Then when you change your running backs, you don't bring in running backs just to run a whole new offense. You bring in guys to plug in to do exactly what you were doing before. So they brought guys in with bodies and size that are exactly similar to what they've had, and they'll keep doing the same thing. It's just different names on the jersey.
"Now, if a quarterback's missing or something like that, or if you end up changing a center, you go from one guy who cannot do something to another guy, things like that, a certain pass rusher and stuff, that stuff can affect a game plan. But to me, what they're missing are definitely some good players, but it's not going to change what they do."
You can listen to the entire conversation with Shanahan below.