49ers cornerback Deommodore Lenoir takes pride in his ability to compete against the NFL's top wide receivers and welcomes the challenge of facing Smith-Njigba. However, Lenoir approaches every matchup with the same mindset, making this weekend's contest no different.
"I look forward to every matchup," Lenoir said Thursday when asked about Smith-Njigba. "I wouldn't try to put this one more than [any] other. He's a great player, much respect, but when we're between the lines, it's competition, always."
Although the 49ers have confidence in Lenoir's coverage skills, that doesn't necessarily mean the veteran cornerback will shadow Smith-Njigba throughout Sunday's game, even if he would welcome the challenge.
Defensive coordinator Raheem Morris explained that Seattle's tendency to move Smith-Njigba around the formation makes it hard to maintain a traditional shadow assignment.
"There's always things you can do, and that's always something that's definitely within the system," defensive coordinator Raheem Morris said. "But those guys nowadays are a little bit different ... as you see in today's game, there's a bunch of different things that happen, moving parts. People move. They move inside, they move outside, they move into the backfield, particularly these guys (the Seahawks) and how they game plan.
"That's not always the best thing for the team at times. He will be matched up with him a bunch. He will match up a little bit. They cannot stay away from each other, but we won't do necessarily the shadow thing where you follow him inside, you follow him outside. There's things we have to do, how we play our game, that won't be able to pinpoint that all the time, but there will definitely be moments that they'll get a chance to get together."
The 49ers will need a disciplined defensive effort to limit Smith-Njigba's impact. While Lenoir expects to face the Seahawks' top receiver at various points, San Francisco will rely on its overall defensive scheme to keep one of Seattle's most dangerous offensive weapons in check.
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