The San Francisco 49ers battled through injuries all season and still carried a six-game winning streak into their Week 18 matchup against the Seattle Seahawks. With the NFC West title, the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs, and home-field advantage at stake, the 49ers fell flat in a 13-3 loss at Levi's Stadium.

The defeat was costly beyond the scoreboard, as San Francisco emerged with additional injury concerns. Head coach Kyle Shanahan shared several key updates during his postgame press conference.


A trio of 49ers linebackers left the game banged up. Dee Winters suffered an ankle injury in the second quarter and did not return. Tatum Bethune exited in the fourth quarter with a groin injury and was also unable to continue. Luke Gifford sustained a quad injury but returned.

Brock Purdy suffers a stinger


Quarterback Brock Purdy suffered a stinger late in the game, though Shanahan said Purdy would have been able to return if necessary.

"I feel good," Purdy said after the game. "Just got hit, and the left shoulder sort of lit up, so feel good right now. We'll see how I feel tomorrow."

When asked if it felt like a stinger, as Shanahan stated, Purdy said, "I think so. Yeah."

Will any injuries carry over into the playoffs?


Shanahan was asked whether any of the injuries could linger into next week, when the 49ers open the postseason on the road as either the fifth or sixth seed—depending on the results of Sunday's contest between the Los Angeles Rams and Arizona Cardinals.


"Possibly with Tatum and Dee," Shanahan said. "I'm not sure about Luke."

How close were Williams and Pearsall to playing?


Left tackle Trent Williams and wide receiver Ricky Pearsall were both inactive for the regular-season finale. The 49ers' offense could have benefited from having each available, but the short week likely played a significant role in the decision.

"They were pushing it," Shanahan said. "It would have been too risky to play them, though. They pushed it all the way up to the end, but it wouldn't have been the smartest decision by us to let them [play]."

Would their chances have improved if the game had been played on Sunday instead of Saturday?

"Oh, yeah, much better chance," Shanahan said.

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