The San Francisco 49ers suffered a significant blow during Sunday's Wild Card playoff win over the Philadelphia Eagles, losing a key piece of their offense in the process. Star tight end George Kittle tore his Achilles in the first half, an injury that will require a lengthy recovery and put his availability for the 2026 NFL season in doubt.
Kittle wasn't the only 49ers player to leave the game injured. Safety Ji'Ayir Brown sustained a hamstring injury and is considered unlikely to be available for Saturday's Divisional Round playoff matchup against the Seattle Seahawks.
"Ji'Ayir was a hamstring, so the fact that he wasn't able to come back, I'm sure he got it pretty good," head coach Kyle Shanahan said. "So, I'm sure he'd be a long shot for next week, but we'll find out more on that tomorrow (Monday). And George, the trainers knew before the cart came out. So, they got word to me on the headset."
Fred Warner's status
For weeks, there has been speculation that linebacker Fred Warner could return if the 49ers made a deep postseason run. Shanahan previously noted that reaching the NFC Championship Game might increase the odds, though he emphasized it would still be far from certain.
With the 49ers advancing to the Divisional Round, Shanahan was asked whether the team might consider opening Warner's practice window this week. After all, Warner was seen doing light running on the side during Thursday's practice, fueling further speculation.
When asked about the likelihood of opening Warner's window, Shanahan was direct.
"Not very high," he said.
How close was Ricky Pearsall to playing?
While tackle Trent Williams fought through a hamstring injury and suited up, wide receiver Ricky Pearsall was among the 49ers' seven inactive players against the Eagles, including linebackers Dee Winters (ankle) and Luke Gifford (quadricep). Pearsall has been attempting to return after aggravating a previous PCL injury in Week 17.
Shanahan was asked how close Pearsall was to playing. While Winters and Gifford were seen testing their injuries during pregame warmups, Pearsall was not.
"Ricky wasn't close enough to work out [during pregame]," Shanahan explained. "Those guys were. But we knew it was going to be fifty-fifty. I mean, they didn't seem like they were ready on Saturday. So, again, it's awesome when you get another day to do it, which gave them a chance, but they were too far away."
Trent Williams was determined to play vs. Eagles
Williams, meanwhile, made it clear early that he planned to be on the field.
"He told Sunday night there was no way he wouldn't be playing this week," Shanahan said. "So I knew how his mindset was. I knew how he attacked everything. But it was Trent's first hamstring injury. It's very rare that you can play on a hamstring like that in this amount of time.
"So, even though I knew he was adamant that he was going to do it, I wasn't sure if he was going to be able to figure out how to do it. But obviously, he did. We're a different team with Trent out there."