Saleh, Kubiak, Purdy preview 49ers-Colts Week 16 matchup
“Because the defense is still maturing, do you have to remind them, don’t look ahead?
“No. These guys, they go through their process, we’re human.
I can assure you that a lot of the guys were watching the game last night. We’d be lying if we said we weren’t. It’s okay to have a carrot in front of you as long as you know how to bring yourself back to the moment. And I think these guys know how to do that.”
Meet The Improbables, a flawed 49ers squad suddenly vying for the No. 1 seed (paywall)
“If the squad from two seasons ago, the one that went to the Super Bowl in Las Vegas and boasted a league-high nine Pro Bowlers, were The Incredibles, this year’s squad is more like The Improbables. It’s a team of castoffs, misfits and last-minute replacements.
But it’s also a team that coalesced quickly. And it kept clawing early in the season when it was at its most vulnerable, pulling off a Week 1 win in Seattle and a Week 5 overtime thriller against the Rams in Los Angeles. Those wins are now critical in the calculation of taking the No. 1 seed. Both the 49ers and Seahawks can do that if they win out. Of course, they also play each other in Week 18 at Levi’s Stadium, which could turn out to be an excellent choice for the prime-time game — and thus the final game of the regular season — on Jan. 4.
Who exactly are The Improbables? Here’s the list, ranked by how important each has been to this year’s campaign.“
49ers vs. Colts: Kyle Shanahan says Ricky Pearsall doesn’t need practice to play MNF
“”No, he doesn’t need a full practice,” Shanahan said. “I mean, not at all. If Ricky was able to fully show everything just on Sunday, I would feel good with that. I [felt] a little different at that last time because he had been out a month and ended up being out longer than a month. So that was totally different. You can’t just have a guy come back after that much time off.
“But Ricky’s been practicing here the last month. He’s been good to go. He had a setback with his injuries, hasn’t been able to go here the last two days, but we’ll hold out hope all the way until Monday that it’ll heal up and give him a chance to play.”
