49ers Kyle Shanahan Gives New Update on Injured All-Pro

Ayear ago, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan conducted press conferences that mostly dealt with how to work in enough playing time for his many stars, whether Brock Purdy deserved MVP consideration and if he preferred to have his defensive coordinator operate from the sideline or from the press box. What he would give to have the luxury problems that marked what was clearly the best team in the NFC in 2023.

Now, the 49ers injury list is about as long as Shanahan’s arm, and each week a new top-tier star takes another turn for the worse. The 49ers are 5-7, after having gone 25-9 in the past two seasons, and according to NFL.com, they have just a 10% chance of reaching the postseason.

But while the 49ers appear ready to rule out not only Christian McCaffrey but also Jordan Mason for the season, Shanahan had a spot of blue sky in his media address on Wednesday: star defensive lineman Nick Bosa might well play this week.

Nick Bosa Limited by Oblique Injury

That’s if, at least, there is a bit of divine intervention, and Shanahan was clear that he doesn’t have that kind of power over the oblique injury that kept Bosa out of practice and has kept him out of games since November 17.

“I mean, I’m not God, but I think he’s got a chance to play this week. So I would think that would lead to getting a better chance each week. But I don’t know the answer to that,” Shanahan said.

The 49ers need Bosa, or someone, to help with has been an especially porous defense, especially against the run in recent weeks. San Francisco has given up 73 points against the Packers and Bills in the past two weeks, and the bulk has come via the rushing game–six total touchdowns on the ground against those two foes.

The run defense was especially bad against Buffalo, as the Bills racked up 153 yards against the 49ers, the fifth time this year that the 49ers yielded 150-plus rushing yards. They’ve also given up three rushing touchdowns four times and rank 31st in the NFL with 19 rushing touchdowns allowed.

49ers Run Defense Not ‘Good Enough’

Shanahan was asked to explain the lack of run defense from the 49ers this season.

“The bottom line is we haven’t played good enough run defense. You look at all of our losses, these last two weeks have been as bad as it gets. Especially when you give up the run game like we have in these last two weeks in the first half, the game’s almost over before it starts going into that second half. I still thought we had every chance to make it a game in the second half, but that’s when we had our three turnovers in both games, which leads to blowouts.

“If you look at all of our losses this year, I think the least amount of yards we’ve given up in a loss is close to 150. So we haven’t been stopping the run well enough. That starts with people being out of gaps. It can go to missed tackles, it can go to not getting off the field on third-down so they get a few more runs called. It can go to not getting enough turnovers and it can go to missed assignments. So it’s all above.”