49ers Notebook

Without Bosa, the defense Shanahan hoped would survive is third in points allowed

Nick Bosa sits a fourth straight game Monday and Gracen Halton is questionable. Eight of the 11 defensive linemen on the 53 carry no designation against Washington.

SK
Sam KezarOct 18, 20264 min read
Every call on this site goes on a public ledger and gets graded. The misses stay up.
Malik Mustapha, in the 49ers' red home jersey and gold pants, leaps with his left arm extended toward Denver tight end Evan Engram, in Broncos white, as the ball arrives, at Levi's Stadium.

Kyle Shanahan told Matt Maiocco what he would have said in September if someone had shown him the injury list his defensive line was about to produce. "I would have been like, 'Alright, I hope we survive, and we can get it going towards the second half of the year,'" Shanahan said on NBC Sports Bay Area's "49ers Game Plan," which aired Saturday night. "So, that's what I think has been so impressive. I think the back seven has been like that, but the D-line, even missing all these people, hasn't been a weakness."

Through five games the 49ers have allowed 93 points, 18.6 a game, by the league standings. Minnesota has allowed 64 in five games, and Kansas City 83 in five after holding the Chargers to six on Sunday. No other team is under 100.

Monday's line. The 53 carries 11 defensive linemen. Bosa (knee, calf) is out against Washington, a fourth straight game. Halton (quadriceps) and Mykel Williams (knee) are questionable. The other eight carry no designation: Osa Odighizuwa, Keion White, Romello Height, James Thompson Jr., Sebastian Valdez, Naquan Jones, Khalid Kareem and Ogbo Okoronkwo. Halton did not practice Thursday or Friday and was limited Saturday, by the club's injury report. Height (hand, illness) was limited Saturday after missing Friday. Thompson (ankle) went from no practice Thursday to full Saturday.

At Seattle, nine linemen split the 63 defensive snaps, by the game book: Odighizuwa 47, White 43, Height 37, Halton 34, Valdez 33, Williams 23, Okoronkwo 14, Jones 12 and Kareem 10. Halton had a sack, a forced fumble, the recovery and the touchdown. White had a sack and two tackles for loss. PFF's grades for that game rank Halton the best of the nine 49ers linemen who played, both overall and as a pass rusher, and have White leading the line in pressures. The man PFF liked most is the one whose status Shanahan does not know yet.

Shanahan credited Raheem Morris for the shape of it. "What I love about Raheem is how much he mixes stuff up, you know, the five-down fronts, the four-down fronts," he said on the same program. "It's kind of all over the place with that stuff, which makes it hard for offenses to tee off."

Mustapha starts again. Sigle (ankle) is out, so Malik Mustapha starts a second straight game. At Seattle he had seven tackles, a fumble recovery and a pass defensed, by ESPN's box score. That pass defensed cost him $6,998: the league fined him for a hit on a defenseless receiver, Jaxon Smith-Njigba at midfield on Seattle's last drive, a play nobody flagged, per Niners Nation's account of Saturday's fine list. He is playing for his third defensive coordinator in three seasons, and he told Maiocco on "49ers Talk" that Morris and secondary coach Jerry Gray asked him to carry his run-game habits into coverage. "They know how downhill and aggressive I am in the run game, but then being able to shift your mind in the pass game and being able to play with that same tenacity," Mustapha said, "but being able to read the quarterback and being able to still fly around and make plays on the ball as well."

Purdy, five attempts short. Brock Purdy has thrown 1,495 career passes, by ESPN's totals, five short of the 1,500 the league requires for its career passer-rating list. His 105.4 rating would sit above Lamar Jackson's 102.7, which Jackson has built over 2,984 attempts. Shanahan was asked about the number after Saturday's practice. "I think sometimes that stuff can be a little bit overrated, but I think it shows how consistent Brock is," he said, per the club's transcript. On "Game Plan" he called Purdy "so automatic at running the offense," and told Maiocco that "automatic" is the highest compliment he gives a quarterback.

Washington's report. The Commanders listed 22 players. Dan Quinn ruled out four: Jacory Croskey-Merritt (groin), who leads Washington in rushing yards, quarterback Marcus Mariota (knee), Charles Omenihu (groin, ankle) and Javontae Jean-Baptiste (pectoral). Nine are questionable, among them Stefon Diggs (hamstring), safeties Nick Cross (illness), Percy Butler (hamstring) and Tyler Owens (hamstring), Javon Kinlaw (ankle, knee) and cornerback Trey Amos (ankle), who is on injured reserve and is traveling anyway, by the Commanders' own account. Jeremy McNichols (quadriceps) opened the season on injured reserve, practiced in full all week, and Washington decides Monday whether to activate him. Rachaad White has 29 carries for 118 yards this season, and Austin Ekeler ran four times for 29 yards in London in his first game back with the club. Jayden Daniels practiced in full all three days with no injury listed. Washington is 1-3-1 after a 27-27 overtime tie with the Giants on Oct. 11.

Alumni Weekend. Keena Turner will be inducted at halftime Monday as the 34th member of the club's Hall of Fame. He played 11 seasons in San Francisco, 1980 through 1990, and won four Super Bowls; 94 former players are back for the 80th anniversary, the club said. Turner told Jennifer Lee Chan of NBC Sports Bay Area that when linebackers coach Norb Hecker called him on draft day in 1980, he assumed Hecker was the head coach.

No transaction. Nothing was filed for San Francisco on the league wire or the club's roster page through Sunday. The 53 is full, so a Christian Kirk activation still takes a corresponding move. Kaelon Black, who missed Saturday's practice for the birth of his child, is expected to play. "He's not questionable, so yes," Shanahan said.

Shanahan and Trent Williams were both asked about Washington on Saturday. Shanahan was fired there with his father the day after the 2013 season. "I don't even think about that at all anymore," he said, per David Bonilla of 49ers Webzone. Williams, traded to San Francisco in 2020, went further. "Sometimes I forget that I even played there," he said. He played nine seasons in Washington.

Sources: NBC Sports Bay Area, "49ers Game Plan" (Shanahan with Matt Maiocco, aired Oct. 17; quotes as transcribed by NBC Sports Bay Area and by Marc Adams of 49ers Webzone, Oct. 17 and 18); NBC Sports Bay Area, "49ers Talk" (Mustapha with Maiocco, Oct. 18); the club's Week 6 status report and injury-report page (Oct. 17); Shanahan's Saturday transcript (49ers Communications, via 49ers Webzone); David Bonilla, 49ers Webzone (Oct. 17); Jennifer Lee Chan, NBC Sports Bay Area (Oct. 18); the club's "5 Things to Know" (Oct. 16); commanders.com game-status story (Oct. 17); ESPN standings (re-read Sunday evening after the Chargers-Chiefs final), box score and career statistics (Oct. 18); Niners Nation on the Mustapha fine (Oct. 17); the Week 5 game book; the league transaction wire and the club's roster page (Oct. 18).

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San Francisco beat Las Vegas 38-17 at Levi's Stadium on Sunday and is 7-1. The 49ers scored touchdowns on their first three possessions, did not punt, and ran 43 times for 190 yards. Las Vegas turned the ball over on five of its six second-half possessions: Jaden Dugger's 35-yard interception return on the first play of the half, two forced fumbles, and interceptions by Renardo Green and Malik Mustapha. The official game book credits San Francisco with no sacks and six quarterback hits, two of them on the plays Green and Mustapha intercepted. Nick Bosa played 39 of 50 defensive snaps in his first game since Sept. 20, and DeForest Buckner played 34. Jordan Watkins caught all four of his targets for 86 yards and his first NFL touchdown. Christian McCaffrey's 12-yard catch set the Super Bowl-era record for touchdown catches by a running back and was Brock Purdy's 100th touchdown pass. Gracen Halton broke his ankle and is out for the season, Shanahan said; Green (back) and Deommodore Lenoir (foot) did not return.

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