\u201cShout out Sebastian Valdez, who I mentioned in yesterday\u2019s tape takeaways. They used him in just about everything but a wide-nine role, and he was impressive in the run game. I also feel like Osa probably should have been lower here, but I gave some deference to the fact that he faced a ton of double teamed and while he wasn\u2019t all that impressive, he had a lot of Dom Puni-esque survivor reps.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ll tend to give guys credit for holding up long enough to occupy two defenders, even if they get displaced later in the rep. Some (not to say the majority, just some) \u201cgood\u201d reps might just allow a linebacker to fill and stay clean, even if that player eventually looks to have lost the rep. It\u2019s like how you can have a sack, but if you\u2019re completely unblocked, I\u2019m not counting that as a very good rep….<\/p>\n
\u2026..I was pleasantly surprised with Khalid Kareem\u2019s day, though a lot of that came against Cardinals RT Elijah Wilkinson. He\u2019s terrible. Osa\u2019s grade ended up higher than I expected. I thought Keion White was probably the 49ers\u2019 best pass rusher in this game, but most of their pressures came off blitzes and simulated pressures. Kevin Givens also had a few nice reps\u2026.Colton McKivitz was downright imperious this week. I thought Trent Williams underwhelmed in pass protection before leaving the game. He got attacked at his inside hip effectively a few times\u2026.Now, in the run game? Trent was magnificent. I legitimately enjoy watching him attack a linebacker in space more than anything else the 49ers do.\u201d<\/p>\n
How 49ers\u2019 Fred Warner learned to stop worrying and embrace the hunt (paywall)<\/a> \u201cI developed this sense of urgency for me to make that play that would validate me making the money I was making. And then you start reaching to try to do things and that really puts you behind the 8-ball. It just all started to snowball.\u201d<\/p>\n Before the 2021 season, Warner had already devoured books such as \u201cMind Gym: An Athlete\u2019s Guide to Inner Excellence\u201d; \u201c12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos\u201d; \u201cAtomic Habits: Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results\u201d and, of course, \u201cKobe Bryant: The Mamba Mentality.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThose tools I\u2019d learned had really helped me get to a spot where I was really being successful,\u201d Warner said. \u201cBut then once I let the negative thoughts flood my brain, there was no getting out of that. I knew about controlling the controllables. Keeping things simple. But that was all gone. I was so in my head with all the other stuff. I needed someone to bring me back into focus.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2026..\u201cMy first thought when I talked with Fred was that he was a great player who started thinking too much about being a great player,\u201d Afremow said. \u201cSuddenly, every play, every moment in every game, started to feel like he wanted to provide evidence: \u2018Am I still that guy? Am I living up to this? \u2019 \u2026 He needed to stop making every play a referendum on whether he was still Fred Warner.\u201d<\/p>\n Afremow\u2019s charge: Remind Warner \u201cwho the hell he already was.\u201d The question that unlocked it is surprising: What animal do you most identify with?<\/p>\n \u201cAnd I\u2019m like \u2018Oh, of course, the lion. That\u2019s the king of the jungle. There\u2019s the hair, the mane,\u2019\u201d Warner said, touching his dreadlocks. \u201cIt just made too much sense.\u201d<\/p>\n Afremow agreed. And he kept asking questions: If a lion goes out on a hunt and doesn\u2019t get a kill, does that mean it\u2019s not a lion? The answer was obvious. For Warner, the deeper meaning was transformative. His inability to get interceptions or forced fumbles didn\u2019t make him less Fred Warner. The stats would come.<\/p>\n \u201cThe thing that a lion does, they don\u2019t have to think about it, they just hunt,\u201d Warner said. \u201cAnd I just needed to get back to loving the hunt. I was focused on outcomes and things that were out of my control.<\/p>\n \u201cJim was like, \u2018Why don\u2019t you just focus on the hunt and get back to things that made you who you are? What made you the lion, what made you Fred? \u2019 \u2026 That truly saved my entire career. Ever since, I\u2019ve gone out there with the mentality of \u2018hunt\u2019 and let everything else come as it may.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2026Warner felt freedom after his breakthrough, but he also worried: What did it say about his mindset if he\u2019d allowed negative thoughts to consume him? Was he weak or, worse, broken? Afremow\u2019s answer: He was human.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s being able to understand: This is how we\u2019re built,\u201d Afremow said. \u201cWe all have a protective voice that says, \u2018Hey, are you ready for this? Can you do this? What if it doesn\u2019t work out? \u2019 We don\u2019t have to take our first thought at face value. So for Fred, it was acknowledging and validating: \u2018Of course you\u2019re going to have negative thoughts at times. What you\u2019re experiencing makes total sense.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Once-dismissed 49ers WR Dante Pettis is back. They might need him Sunday (paywall)<\/a> If he\u2019s in uniform against the Broncos, the first three players the 49ers drafted in 2018 \u2014 Broncos tackle Mike McGlinchey, Pettis and linebacker Fred Warner (a third-round pick) \u2014 will be on hand. Two others from that draft class, defensive tackle Kentavius Street (a fourth-rounder with the Bears) and cornerback D.J. Reed (a fifth-rounder now with the Detroit Lions), remain in the league.\u201d<\/p>\n 49ers QB Brock Purdy named NFC Offensive Player of the Month<\/a> John Lynch on Mike Evans: \u2018Mike\u2019s going to make every attempt to try to play\u2019<\/a> Our Guards Are Absolutely Cooking<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Yeah, we all knew this based on watching the games. But take a look at the graphic below. Conner Colby…..WOW. The guy is playing angry and destroying defenders, even pancaking them in pass pro which is impressive. <\/p>\n I think we can all have a huge sigh of relief for Puni. He’s having an all pro year. Literally unstoppable. <\/p>\n Excited to see how the year progresses for this line and if they can keep the sackless streak going. Going to be tough to do that the next two weeks.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were little things going on physically early on and I was just not playing like myself,\u201d Warner said. \u201cBut then I had people in my ear asking, \u2018Hey, do you feel like you\u2019re trying to do too much because of the contract? \u2019 I truly did not think that was the case. But once that got in my head, I started thinking about that \u2026<\/p>\n
\u201cIf both can\u2019t play Sunday, the only healthy receivers on the active roster would be Deebo Samuel, Jacob Cowing and Jordan Watkins. Because they need at least five receivers on game days, practice squad players Pettis and Brandin Cooks could be elevated. Pettis, 30, hasn\u2019t started a game since 2022 with the Chicago Bears. Last year he caught nine passes for 127 yards for the New Orleans Saints.<\/p>\n
\u201cPurdy is the only quarterback with multiple touchdown passes and a passer rating of at least 100 in each of the first three weeks of the season.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe 49ers must\u2019ve felt like Nick Bosa was closer to \u201cweek-to-week\u201d since they didn\u2019t place him on Injured Reserve. Bosa pulled his calf muscle in practice last week, missing Week 3.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"saabstory14\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/DjbpEhMzTP-1e6294f5-8cb4-4adc-ae0b-f78a4b60354c.jpg\"\/)
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