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The 49ers defense had a resurgence last Monday Night, showing out with two interceptions, both by safety Jimmie Ward, and two sacks, en route to a primetime blowout 31-10 win over their division rivals, the Los Angeles Rams.
This week, the 49ers will travel to Jacksonville to face the rebuilding Jaguars, where that defense will look to replicate their masterful performance that they showcased against the Rams.
The 4-5 49ers are just 0.5 games back of a playoff spot, making this weekend's game essentially a must-win to gain traction in the playoff race, especially given the strength of their opponent.
When giving his final updates on Friday for Sunday's showdown, head coach Kyle Shanahan highlighted one defensive player who's developed admirably on the team: defensive back Emmanuel Moseley.
During his speech, Shanahan described Moseley's development process since he joined the 49ers as an undrafted free agent after going unselected in the 2018 NFL Draft.
"I think Emmanuel, I still don't think he's reached his full ceiling," Shanahan said. "Emmanuel's earned everything he's gotten here. He started the first year just playing on scout team the whole year. Ended up the second year, which I believe was 2019, being our starting corner, playing at a high level. I think he's played at a very high level this year."
Moseley's age-25 season has not come without obstacles, however, as the cornerback was placed on the COVID-19/Reserve list to begin training camp, which was followed by an injury, limiting his offseason productivity.
I think he'd been up and down last year. He's been up and down this year, just because of his injuries. He started out training camp missing the first 10 days because of COVID. Then he missed a number of days again in training camp after he came back with an injury. It's been up and down throughout this time, so he's just starting to get back, to me, to his level of play before. And now that he's there, the way he's made, the way he works, now I know he'll only get better."
Moseley's development is definitely something to notice, as the 5'11, 190 pound corner fought his way from an undrafted free agent to overtaking Akhello Witherspoon as a starter on a playoff team, before coming into his own this year as San Francisco's top defensive back.
After missing the first two games of the season, Moseley has stepped up as San Francisco's top corner and has unquestionably been a critical player on this DeMeco Ryans-led defense, especially after then-top corner Jason Verrett went down with an ACL tear in Week 1.
On a defense surrounded by stars like
Nick Bosa and
Fred Warner, Moseley and the secondary was seen as the weak link on this 49ers team.
However, in the time that he's been healthy this year, Moseley has stepped up as a true No. 1 corner, as he has ten passes defended, which is fifth best in the NFL, while allowing a completion percentage of just 56.5% and a passer rating of just 73.4 this season.
Now, the move to re-sign Moseley to an extremely team-friendly, 2-year, $10 million deal in the offseason seems like a very smart move by the 49ers, especially with the lack of depth in the secondary.
A key staple to this 49ers defense, Moseley will look to build on his impressive fourth NFL season against Jacksonville on Sunday, where he'll go up against the likes of Marvin Jones Jr., Laviska Shenault Jr., and Jamal Agnew.
San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan spoke to reporters after the team's 30-23 win over the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium. He provided injury updates from the game.
Wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk was in and out of the game due to a left shoulder injury. A reporter asked if the coach was concerned that the injury could be serious.
"I wouldn't think so," Shanahan responded. "I mean, I know he was hurting a little bit, but he was able to play through it, so I think I'll be all right."
The coach mentioned two other players in his post-game injury report.
"[CB Ambry] Thomas, he had a knee," Shanahan said. "He was in and out. After that, [CB Deommodore
San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan jumped on a conference call with reporters on Friday afternoon, the day after the team's 30-12 win over the New York Giants. Shanahan provided several injury updates.
Linebackers Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles and Dre Greenlaw emerged from Thursday night's game with low-ankle sprains. Both are day-to-day. The good news is that players have some extra time off before returning to work on Monday, when the 49ers begin preparing for the Arizona Cardinals.
The only other player who was banged up in the Week 3 contest is wide receiver Deebo Samuel. The 49ers initially feared a rib injury, but
After the San Francisco 49ers' 30-12 victory over the New York Giants on Thursday night, head coach Kyle Shanahan expressed how happy he was with his second-year quarterback, Brock Purdy, despite some miscues.
"It definitely wasn't his best game, but I think Brock played well," Shanahan said. "I mean, he definitely wasn't perfect. Missed a couple of throws, but he also made a couple of plays that I didn't think were there. So I was definitely happy with him."
The next day, after reviewing what his team did against their Week 3 opponent, the coach was even more impressed with his quarterback.
"After watching the film, I was even more impressed than I saw last night after the game," Shanahan said Friday afternoon via a conference call. "We missed a
The San Francisco 49ers plan to keep the band together for a long time. The team announced that it has agreed to multi-year contract extensions with head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch.
Details of the contracts are currently unknown. Before the new deals, Shanahan had been signed through the 2025 season, while Lynch was locked up through the 2024 season. They will now remain with the team longer than that.
The 49ers Communications staff provided the following rundown.
The duo joined the 49ers in February of 2017 and have since led the organization to the postseason three times, claimed two NFC West division titles (2019 & 2022), reached three NFC Championship games (2019 & 2021-22) and a trip to Super Bowl
