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This week, San Francisco 49ers defensive tackle
Javon Hargrave shared some behind-the-scenes details leading to this past season's NFC Championship Game between his new team and his former one, the Philadelphia Eagles. The defensive lineman shared that comments by one 49ers star provided some bulletin board material for the Eagles, who went on to beat the 49ers 31-7, advancing to Super Bowl 57.
Leading to the game between the two NFC powerhouses, Kittle was asked about the matchup and how the Eagles' roster compared to the 49ers'.
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We'll see on Sunday, won't we?" Kittle responded. "I mean, they've got six first-round draft picks on the D-line. They have physical guys in the secondary, physical guys at linebacker. Whatever you see on paper, sure.
"When you look on paper, you say, 'Yeah, we should be able to match physicality,' and things like that, and then you get on the field on Sundays and the film after the game will show you exactly what you're asking. I know we're going to come out and be violent and physical. I'm expecting them to be the same thing. But we'll see."
Apparently, those references to the Eagles matching up "on paper" lit a fire under the 49ers' opponent. Although, some of that might have been manufactured, as it sounds like Kittle was complimenting the Eagles roster while expressing confidence in his own.
The Eagles viewed Kittle's comments as disrespectful and were motivated by them.
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That was something," Hargrave said on Monday morning during an interview on 95.7 The Game. "Coach (Nick Sirianni) had put it up on a board and tried to give us a little motivation before the game. Just reminding us that, basically, they said we were a paper team, they were saying we were a paper team and stuff.
"That was something people took personally and just wanted to go out there and prove [wrong]. But I think that's all of us. When we hear someone talking down on us that just gives us a little motivation, so I think that was just a little motivation for us in that game."
One of Hargrave's former teammates discussed Kittle's comments after the NFC Championship Game.
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When he said that we looked good on paper, in a football world, we know how to take that," Eagles cornerback Darius Slay said during his podcast. "That's basically saying not too physical. As a defense, with us being one of the best defenses in the league as well, we took that as kind of disrespect."
Now that Hargrave and Kittle are teammates, will the defensive lineman bring up the comments with the tight end when the 49ers' offseason program begins next month?
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I'm not going to change nobody from being them, but I might say a little bit," Hargrave admitted on Tuesday during an interview on NFL Network's
NFL Now. "I might tell him kind of what we did when he said some of the things that he said that kind of motivated us.
"But some people just talk junk, and some people, that's how they perform. That's their thing. But, yeah, I wouldn't discourage him from being him."
Steph Sanchez and MLFootball report that the San Francisco 49ers hosted former Georgia safety Javon Bullard on a pre-draft visit yesterday.
🚨EXCLUSIVE: Georgia star safety Javon Bullard had a TOP-30 visit with the San Francisco #49ers yesterday, sources tell @_MLFootball & @Steph49K. Bullard, 21-years-old is a very good athlete and is great in coverage.
San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch spoke with reporters as the team prepares for the 2024 NFL Draft. Quarterback Brock Purdy also addressed the media. Here is everything they had to say.
Transcripts provided by the San Francisco 49ers Communications staff.
General Manager John Lynch
Opening comments:
"This to me, there's nothing like watching our guys compete on Sundays or Thursdays or Mondays. We play a lot of different days now, but nothing like watching our guys compete. But to me, this is really my favorite time of year as an organization because I think it represents our organization coming together and working for a common goal as much as anything we do. When you look at the guys I call our
The San Francisco 49ers will hold a mandatory minicamp from June 4 through 6, officially concluding the team's offseason program. After that, the Niners will break for over a month and return to the Santa Clara facilities for training camp in late July.
Between that time, starting quarterbacks will often organize throwing sessions with their receivers in an effort to build chemistry ahead of the rigors of training camp. 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy has been unable to participate in such sessions over the last two years. The last overall draft pick in 2022, Purdy had yet to make a name for himself during his first offseason. Last year, he was still recovering from offseason surgery on his throwing arm.
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The San Francisco 49ers announced the signing of wide receiver Trent Taylor to a one-year deal, reuniting with the team's former fifth-round draft pick out of Louisiana Tech.
Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area was the first to report that the 49ers were discussing a potential reunion with Taylor. The receiver was part of head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch's first draft class in 2017 and spent his first four NFL seasons with the team.
The #49ers are talking with free-agent slot receiver/return man
