The San Francisco 49ers looked strong on Thursday. But how do they become stronger?

That’s the question on everyone’s mind this week after the team lost a defensive tackle, Alfred Collins, for the season and a wide receiver, De’Zhaun Stribling, for an undetermined amount of time. Will the 49ers add a receiver? And which defensive linemen are available after serious injuries to Collins and Sam Okuayinonu?

We answer these questions and more in this week’s mailbag. Thanks for all the great queries, which, as usual, have been lightly edited for length and clarity.

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Robert Mays and Derrik Klassen

What happens at slot receiver while Stribling is out? — Bryan C.

One of the bigger surprises from the game was that Stribling wasn’t just a slot receiver. He was a starting receiver. Of the 21 snaps he took before leaving the game with an ankle injury — the most snaps of any 49ers receiver to that point — only five came out of the slot, with the other 16 outside.

As noted in this week’s minutia minute, Mike Evans worked out of the slot to begin the game, with his first three catches — all third-down conversions — coming when he was in the slot. Here’s how the slot snaps stacked up on Thursday:

Kyle Juszczyk: 11
Deebo Samuel: 9
Evans: 7
Demarcus Robinson: 7
George Kittle: 6
Stribling: 5
Luke Farrell: 3

All of which is to say that the 49ers have a lot of options and were already rotating a lot in the slot before Stribling was injured.

Do you see Deebo Samuel’s playing time and role expanding, or do they keep Demarcus Robinson at the Z and keep Deebo fresh on limited plays again? — Ezra M.

I think both players’ snap counts will rise as a result of Stribling’s injury, but perhaps Robinson’s will rise more.

Keeping Samuel fresh seems like the right idea. For example, his kickoff return to begin the second half Thursday hasn’t gotten enough attention. That was a big play for a team that badly wanted to send a message at the start of the third quarter. Samuel might be more effective occasionally being featured on plays than he would if he were a nearly every-down receiver.

As for Robinson, he and Purdy seem to have a good connection. Last year was a strange one for Robinson. He appeared to develop a rapport with Purdy during training camp. But then he had to sit out the first three games due to a suspension, and when he came back, Purdy was injured. Robinson didn’t seem to have the same chemistry with Mac Jones (whose rapport was with Kendrick Bourne instead), and it wasn’t until Purdy was back and feeling like himself late in the season that Robinson became a real factor.

With the injury to Stribling, do you think the 49ers are now in the market for a WR? — Brandon A.

No, I don’t think so. They can promote KhaDarel Hodge from the practice squad. And they can activate Christian Kirk from injured reserve after Week 4.

With tight end Jake Tonges (knee) apparently out for a while, do you see the 49ers going for a street signing, or will they go with their internal options? — Alberto R.

I see them going with an internal option. They’ll probably promote Brayden Willis, who made the initial 53-man roster, from the practice squad. Practice squadder Khalil Dinkins, an undrafted rookie, is also a possibility. However, he joined training camp late and might be a better option deeper into the season.

So obviously the 49ers are going to win the Super Bowl. To temper our enthusiasm, what things from the game would you say stood out as areas of concern despite the big win? — Jason H.

There were more injuries. And a defense that finished with a league-low 20 sacks last season had zero on Thursday.

Which free-agent defensive tackle and/or defensive end could they sign as a decent depth piece with some upside? — Marco S.

I know they just lost Collins, a starter at defensive tackle. But I still think the bigger need is at defensive end.

Though Mykel Williams is technically a defensive end, he’ll be able to play a lot of defensive tackle snaps — especially on obvious passing downs — when he’s back after Week 4. The same goes for Keion White.

There are also a lot more quality defensive ends available, a list that includes Haason Reddick, Leonard Floyd and Joey Bosa. Here’s how I’d classify them:

• If the team wants another Romello Height-like player or is worried it’s not getting enough out of Height, Reddick would be a good solution. He’s a lighter-bodied edge player who’s played in systems similar to the one defensive coordinator Raheem Morris is running this year.

• If the team wants a dependable, every-down defensive end, Floyd is the answer. He’s familiar to both the 49ers’ brass and Morris. Yes, Floyd turned 34 last week and had only 3.5 sacks last year for Morris’ Falcons. But the 49ers aren’t in a position to look down their noses at 3.5 sacks. Their sack leader last year had four.

• If the 49ers want a second-half-of-the-season boost, how about Bosa? The team might be worried about how Nick Bosa’s oft-injured older brother might hold up over a 17-game season. But an eight-game season seems reasonable. Joey had five sacks and 54 quarterback pressures for the Bills last year. That’s not elite, but it’s better than what the 49ers have opposite Nick at the moment.

Another interesting option is Yetur Gross-Matos, whose recent stint with the 49ers was marred by a knee issue. Gross-Matos didn’t play or practice much, but when he was on the field, he made an impact. His 16.3 percent pass-rush win rate last season was second best on the team behind Bosa’s 20 percent rate.

Gross-Matos is currently rehabilitating from that knee injury and isn’t ready to play. That could change by midseason.

After one game … early choice for rookie who makes the biggest impact this year? My vote is Gracen Halton. — Rob C.

There seem to be several good choices, including Halton, Kaelon Black, Jaden Dugger and, depending on how much time he misses, Stribling.

I’ll go with Dugger. He played more than half the defensive snaps and spent a lot of time rushing the quarterback against the Rams. He seemed a touch tentative on Thursday, which ought to disappear the more he plays.

Do you see Malik Mustapha splitting time with Ji’Ayir Brown or riding the bench this season? Brown is an expensive free agent in 2027. — David L.

The 49ers never dole out big money for safeties — ironic given who their general manager is — so it’s hard to see them bringing back Brown for big money, whether he’s a 17-game starter this season or not.

I don’t think he gets the hook yet. But the 49ers had no issues rotating the safeties last year, and they had one of their best games at the position, the wild-card win in Philadelphia, with Mustapha and Marques Sigle in the lineup.

Lots of online talk about the “banana motion” from the Niners in Australia. Is that something the NFL could consider and outlaw/tell officials to clamp down on midseason? — Danny J.

An opposing coach could pull the officials aside before the game and ask them to keep an eye on the motion. But there’s nothing illegal about it unless Juszczyk is clearly moving closer to the line of scrimmage at the snap. During his banana motions on Thursday, he seemed to be just coming out of his turn at the snap.

With Ricky Pearsall missing the entire year on IR, how does that affect his rookie contract? I keep hearing that because he will miss the entire season, the 49ers get an extra year tacked onto his rookie contract. Is that true? — Jeff E.

No. Sometimes an injury will cause a player’s contract to toll — pause and extend for another year — but that happens only if he lands on the non-football injury list (meaning he was injured away from team activities) and misses the final year of his contract. Pearsall is in the third year of a four-year rookie contract and is on injured reserve, not the NFI list.

Very curious about two things: How is your personal jet lag (obvious insight into how the Niners might be feeling)? And how big of a deal is it that Kaelon Black looked so good and they trusted him (feels huge!)? — Doug H.

1. My jet lag isn’t bad. I arrived at SFO at 7:55 a.m. Sunday, resisted taking a nap (even while watching the Falcons-Steelers ZZZZfest!), conked out at 8 p.m., then slept for 11 ½ hours. I feel like I could lift a dump truck over my head or block Myles Garrett (OK, maybe an injured Myles Garrett).

2. It’s big. Black has the trust of Shanahan and running backs coach Bobby Turner. The last time you could say that about a rookie tailback was 2021, when Elijah Mitchell got 19 carries in the season opener. Of course, he got those only after Raheem Mostert went down early with a knee injury that ended up knocking him out the rest of the season.

I am impressed by the win, but also nervous. The 49ers looked good, but the Rams looked horrible. Does this win reflect more on how good the 49ers were or just how bad the Rams were due to being unprepared from no preseason play and sluggish from jet lag? — Vernon F.

Can’t it be both?

It should be noted that the 49ers weren’t at full strength — or full pep — either. George Kittle and Dre Greenlaw are clearly working their way back to peak form following injuries, for example. And the 49ers played most of the game without their top picks from the last three drafts: Pearsall, Williams and Stribling.

I read that the team took their cooks to Australia. Do they actually have a cafeteria/dining area at their practice facility to prepare meals throughout the day? — Michael C.

They took their head chef and dietitian, who worked with the hotel staff on meals. They would have done that if they were spending the week in Colorado Springs or The Greenbrier, though. That is, they have a lot of practice when it comes to week-long stays.

What was your favorite wildlife sighting in Australia? — Brian P.

The day before the game was an off day. So I took the ol’ binocs to Yarra Bend Park hoping to see parrots. I was disappointed. I saw only a few bird species, all of which I’d already seen on my walks in downtown Melbourne from the hotel to the practice facility.

What I didn’t plan to see were bats with three-foot wingspans, and I certainly didn’t expect to see thousands of bats — technically grey-headed flying foxes, see below. I was the only human in the park, and at one point I worried I might get carried away like Dorothy by the flying monkeys in “The Wizard of Oz.” But it was still my favorite sighting.

Matt Barrows’ guide to the animals of Australia

Matt Barrows