There was no shortage of topics to talk about from a 49ers perspective after Sunday's 33-17 win over the Miami Dolphins, and we're going to dive right into them in this edition of 49ers Notebook.
While much of Sunday's postgame discussion dealt with the season-ending foot injury to quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and the performance of Garoppolo's replacement, Brock Purdy, there were a number of other interesting and entertaining moments we're going to get into here, including some pointed (but friendly) words defensive end Nick Bosa had for head coach Kyle Shanahan and a bit of smack talk from wide receiver Deebo Samuel to former 49ers running back Raheem Mostert. Let's get it started...
Thank S***-talking Kyle Shanahan for Nick Bosa's performance
Nick Bosa had a statement game against the Dolphins Sunday, finishing with three sacks and a forced fumble that was recovered for a game-sealing touchdown from linebacker Dre Greenlaw. Bosa's performance had former 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman tweeting support for Bosa's NFL defensive player of the year candidacy.
Perhaps 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan deserves an assist for what Bosa did on Sunday. Shanahan cracked a joke about Bosa and the defensive line Saturday night, but Bosa took it a little more seriously than Shanahan expected, and it carried over into the win over the Dolphins.
"I kind of messed with the D-Line and Bosa last night telling them that I thought the linebackers outperformed them last week," Shanahan said. "I thought they would smile at it but he didn't smile at all. Then right after that last sack where Dre scooped and scored, he came up to me and I thought we were going to celebrate together and he goes, that's what happens when you talk -- that way -- about me in a team meeting. I said 'I'll make a note. I'll make sure to do it a lot more.' It was pretty cool to see. He was great. Unbelievable."
Bosa gave his account of what happened on Saturday and Sunday, starting with his thoughts on Shanahan's wisecrack on Saturday night.
"Yeah, he threw a little shade at me and the D-Line," Bosa said. "So we kind of talked in our meeting. We don't like being called out like that. I mean it's our head coach, so he obviously has the right. He watches the tape more than anybody and he expects the most out of us. I'm glad we were able to make an impact."
And what exactly did Bosa say to Shanahan after his final sack on Sunday?
"I was like, 'Don't talk s*** about me anymore. Or talk more s*** about me,'" Bosa said.
It's probably a good idea for Shanahan to choose option two and find more ways to upset Bosa after what happened against the Dolphins.
"Light the fire," Bosa said.
Deebo throws some shade of his own
Dolphins running back Raheem Mostert made some headlines last week with some quotes he made about his former team, and on Sunday wide receiver Deebo Samuel issued a response.
Mostert was quoted last week as saying "We have a quarterback who can actually sling it," in regards to Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, and "We have more talent here" when speaking about the players on the Dolphins' roster. Mostert went on KNBR radio in San Francisco to clarify that his comments had nothing to do with the 49ers or quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo as originally interpreted, but Samuel referenced them in his postgame interview anyway.
Deebo Samuel on Raheem Mostert's comments earlier in the week:
"I thought they had the best talent. Oh... my bad." pic.twitter.com/5t5yTktHz8
— KNBR (@KNBR) December 5, 2022
After Sunday, however, there's little doubt Mostert has a good amount of respect for Garoppolo. According to ESPN writer Marcel Louis-Jacques, Mostert was shaken when he found out about Garoppolo's season-ending injury and wanted to speak with Garoppolo and his family.
Purdy darn good
The 49ers still made an impact on offense without Garoppolo on Sunday, due in large part to backup quarterback Brock Purdy. The rookie and seventh-round draft pick finished 25-of-37 for 210 yards, two touchdowns and one interception, while inspiring confidence that the 49ers can continue to win even without Garoppolo at quarterback.
A number of 49ers players spoke highly of Purdy after the game, starting with tight end George Kittle, who caught two passes from Purdy for 22 yards.
"He did not look like a rookie," Kittle said. "I think being in the building, being in a room with Jimmy, Trey (Lance), and Coach Shanahan, (passing game coordinator) Bobby Slowik, (assistant quarterbacks coach Klay) Kubiak every single day, he's learned how to prepare. So he was just ready for his opportunity. You've got to respect that.:
Purdy was impressive with his poise in a pressure situation, which rubbed off on his teammates.
"He's just got confidence," Kittle said. "You can feel it too. He's not shy. There's no awkwardness to him. He's a little quiet sometimes, but there's no timidness to him. He's confident in his play. When you're quarterback's confident, you feel confident. He was definitely confident out there and got all the guys going."
Bosa liked what he saw from Purdy earlier in the year as well as on Sunday.
"It's hard to tell in practice, but whenever he's gotten his shot in preseason, he looked like he had some dog in him," Bosa said. "I love his mindset. He's super tough. He's not afraid to make mistakes. He gets playmakers the ball. He's our guy now, so we've got to roll."
Running back Christian McCaffrey was Purdy's favorite target on the day, catching eight passes for 80 yards and a touchdown.
"Man, he plays with a lot of confidence," McCaffrey said. "Didn't miss a beat. He came in and was great in the huddle. Obviously made some plays. I got to make a couple more plays for him. When something like that happens, it's on us to step up. But he did a great job all the way until the end, staying poised. Managing the huddle and obviously, there's some things that can happen here and there with communication and just having a different quarterback. But I was proud of him. I thought he did a great job."
Defensive lineman Arik Armstead added, "He looked great. He was going through his reads. He was moving in the pocket, distributing the ball down the field, did an excellent job from what I saw. He's only going to get better."
The starting job is Purdy's for the near future, and if the 49ers are going to make a run in the postseason, it'll have to be with Purdy leading the offense. Left tackle Trent Williams expects the team to rally around Purdy and take things up a notch in order to make things easier for the rookie.
"I think it will bring us closer together," Williams said. "We know we're going to have a rookie who will be under center, so we've got to be better around him. We've got to band together and try to take as much pressure off his shoulders as possible. He's a great prospect. We can win ball games with him. We have a lot of faith in him."
No Lance this year
Just in case anyone wondered about the possibility of Lance coming back early from his season-ending ankle injury, Shanahan shut that down when asked about it during his postgame press conference.
"No, he can't," Shanahan said.
The 49ers are reportedly adding veteran Josh Johnson to their roster to help their quarterback numbers. Whether anyone else comes in remains to be seen, but the team was at work trying to figure out what they'd do at quarterback before Sunday's game came to a close.
"That's stuff those guys (the front office) start working on during the game," Shanahan said. "They're staying up with everyone's practice squads, who's out there. So they always have a list of people and we'll be discussing that tonight. We know we've got to bring someone else in, at least."
Best to make sure
It was unclear at first whether or not the play that resulted in Greenlaw's touchdown was actually a fumble, but he continued playing like it was and was rewarded for it in the end.
Bosa's sack caused the ball to fly out of Tagovailoa's hand, and at first it may have looked like Tagovailoa's arm was moving forward before the ball came loose. But that wasn't the case, and Greenlaw's touchdown stayed on the board.
"I wasn't sure if it was a fumble or not but Coach always said just pick it up and run anyway. So I picked it up and I was kind of running, but then I did not realize everybody started chasing me," Greenlaw said.
Greenlaw's play was part of a strong performance from the linebackers that left Shanahan piling on the praise after the game.
"All three of those guys," Shanahan said. "Everyone knows about Fred [Warner], a leader out there and a captain. You go to the two other guys, watching Azeez [Al-Shaair] all last year when Greenlaw went down, how physical Azeez is and how much fun he is to have out there. And then Greenlaw, one of the best games I ever saw, I thought from a player was Week 17 in L.A. last year when Greenlaw hadn't played at all and came back and was one of the main reasons I thought we went to the playoffs last year is because of how he played in that game. I wish we could have all three of them forever, they're studs and they love football. They're a real tight group and they like to run and hit, so it's what you like about him."