NEW ORLEANS — The 49ers managed to walk out of the Superdome with a 26-21 win over the New Orleans Saints, with several of their backups in featured roles, including tight ends Jake Tonges and Luke Farrell.Kyle Shanahan’s game plan was structured around the absence of George Kittle, who will miss at least three more games with a hamstring injury. That put extra pressure on fullback Kyle Juszczyk, who took on a bigger role, along with the two tight ends.After 10 plays, Juszczyk was evaluated for a concussion and missed the remainder of the game, putting even more pressure on both Tonges and Farrell.“It was huge, just like last week with Kittle going down,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said. “They had to be ready for a lot of stuff that they weren’t expecting. Today with Juice going down was huge too. We had to flip their positions a number of times. They do not receive many reps at fullback. Jake had to be ready at fullback and Luke [had] to be ready. Those guys are studs.”Farrell, who was the 49ers’ most expensive free-agent signing, was on the field for 41 offensive plays, catching two of his three targets, one for the...
Mentioned in this article: Luke Farrell, Kyle Juszczyk, George Kittle, Jake Tonges