The San Francisco 49ers returned to practice on Wednesday, albeit in a somewhat different setting than what they experienced before Christmas.
With COVID-19 running roughshod over the NFL and all of sports in recent days, the 49ers decided to take a careful approach on Wednesday by handling their pre-practice agenda over Zoom before meeting for practice later in the day. The 49ers have been much luckier than other teams to this point when it comes to COVID-19 this season, so head coach Kyle Shanahan decided to take extra precautions to try to keep it that way.
"I made the decision last night," Shanahan said Wednesday. "I just had us all Zoom today. We had the whole team split up today. We did everything Zoom. We've been pretty fortunate with it so far just having one guy down. But just watching the world and watching everybody, it's a matter of time is what it looks like. So we're just trying to be careful and keep everyone separate right now until we go outside."
Pre-practice media sessions were also handled over Zoom, which brought back memories of the unusual nature of 2020. But Shanahan said the team's mindset is different than it was at this point last season, when the 49ers were forced to play their final games in Arizona due to COVID-19 restrictions in Sana Clara.
"We always get flashbacks of last year because it was just weird -- the month that we spent," Shanahan said. "Talking to you guys on here gives me flashbacks. I think it's been different with our team. Even the first week we Zoomed back then it wasn't that big of a deal. It was just the continuous month of it and not being around each other on the road in a hotel. This week, just talking to everyone, everyone knows what's at stake this week, everyone knows what's at stake next week. The playoffs have essentially started for us. So it's not an issue. We all don't prefer Zoom. People know what's at stake with the chances of us losing guys for these games, so it wasn't a hard issue at all going Zoom today."
There were plenty of other topics of interest discussed on Wednesday. Here's a rundown of some quotes of note that weren't covered in depth by 49ers Webzone earlier in the day.
* Running backs getting healthier: After being thin at the running back position in recent weeks, the 49ers appear to be close to getting their depth back. Shanahan told reporters that rookie Trey Sermon is ready to return after missing time with an ankle injury, while also expressing optimism that fellow rookie Elijah Mitchell (knee) isn't far behind.
"Trey's good to go," Shanahan said. "We got to see him last week even though we didn't get to practice that much. He would have been able to go last week [against the Tennessee Titans]. We didn't go with that -- more of a special teams decision. I know Trey Sermon should be good to go this week and I'm hoping Elijah will."
* Remembering John Madden: The NFL community has been in mourning over the past 24 hours after news surfaced of the death of John Madden on Tuesday at age 85. 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan and linebacker Fred Warner offered their thoughts on Madden Wednesday, which not surprisingly included some fond memories of playing his immensely popular video game.
"I didn't know John personally," Shanahan said. "I know my dad did, but I don't know much about that. I just know I would have been a much better student if it wasn't for John Madden. I spent probably my first 25 years of my life playing his video game all the time, which was as good of a game as it gets. I think that's where everyone from my generation knew him exactly. Then you heard him on Monday Night Football all the time. It was cool to see -- me growing up, I always watched him on TV and loved him.
"As I got more into coaching or the aspects of football, I'd always be like, why is he drawing on the screen so long? Then other new guys came when they tried to replace him, and no one could entertain the normal fan as much as he could. And it seemed like they never did totally replace him for a while. I just know how much he meant, starting with that video game, how much he meant to everyone hearing his voice on Monday Night Football. I think someone said it yesterday, but he lived as good of a football life as anyone. Without me knowing him, I would totally have to agree on that."
Warner added, "Such a huge impact. Just his love for the game, and obviously Madden -- you have an NFL football game named after you. That's a huge deal, especially for someone like myself, growing up playing that game 24-7. It was pretty special when I first saw my little player on the game. I didn't have to create a player just to have myself on the game anymore. So that was tough hearing that news, but he impacted a lot of people and impacted the game in a huge way."
* Garoppolo explains what happened: It came as a surprise earlier this week when news surfaced that quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo suffered a thumb injury in Thursday's loss to the Titans that could put his status for this week's game against the Houston Texans in doubt. Neither Garoppolo nor anyone else on the 49ers spoke of the injury after the game, which is why the news was so unexpected.
"That's just not me," Garoppolo said Wednesday when explaining why he kept his injury a secret. "Even when it happened on the sideline, I tried to be low-key about it... it's not about me, it's about the team, honestly."
But, with the injury now known to the public, Garoppolo provided more details on Wednesday about how it happened. The injury took place on a sack late in the second quarter at the hands of edge defender Bud Dupree.
Jimmy Garoppolo is taken down for a sack by Bud Dupree #Titans pic.twitter.com/5jUJb4eNcm
— Pro Football Culture (@proftblculture) December 24, 2021
"Bud Dupree I'm pretty sure it was was coming from behind me. He kind of grabbed me from behind. If you can imagine I was holding the ball and he kind of hip-tossed me using my thumb. Then we landed on my thumb on top of that. It was kind of the perfect storm for a thumb injury, but that's football. Stuff happens out there and you've just got to move on, and that's what I tried to do out there."
* The other rookie QB: If Lance plays against the Texans on Sunday, it'll make for a battle of two rookies from the 2021 NFL Draft class. The other rookie in question is Davis Mills, who has taken over the starting job in Houston after playing his college ball down the road from the 49ers at Stanford. Mills has 2,220 yards, 12 touchdowns and nine interceptions on the season.
"I think he's done a great job, honestly," Warner said of Mills on Wednesday. "I hadn't really heard a lot about him before actually watching the tape. Then I watched the tape and I was pretty impressed. I think they do a good job of keeping things fairly simple for him. They want to make sure they're efficient with the football. He's smart with his decision making, can make all the throws, kind of has that savvy to extend plays with his legs and get the ball down the field. So I was really impressed with what I saw."
* Christmas vacation always helps: The 49ers were understandably down in the dumps after losing in Tennessee last week, but playing on Thursday night allowed them to have a break on Christmas weekend. Players had the chance to get some rest and clear their heads a bit, which could give the 49ers an edge this week.
"Definitely better than it was after the game," Garoppolo said of the team's mindset on Wednesday. "I think guys got away for a couple days, got to enjoy Christmas, and it's a playoff atmosphere now. Now it's for real. It has been for a while now, but now the chips are really on the table. So it's an excited locker room, I'll say. Guys are confident right now. I know everything (that) happened last week, but guys are confident in the team that we have. We know what we can do."
The 49ers and Texans kick off at 4:05 p.m. ET/1:05 p.m. PT on Sunday.