Both of the San Francisco 49ers’ starting defensive tackles were sidelined going into their game against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday. The team led by Kyle Shanahan prevailed, but the defense gave up a season-high 234 rushing yards.
Arik Armstead (foot, knee) and Javon Hargrave (hamstring) are still out with injuries, but the head coach said, “We’ll get an idea of that when we start practicing.”
Fans hope Armstead and Hargrave are ready for the Christmas night game as the club gets ready for a pivotal game against the Baltimore Ravens. In light of the defensive line injuries, Shanahan was questioned about whether the 49ers had talked about signing a player similar to Ndamukong Suh.
“Not just yet,” Shanahan replied. “I’m not ruling anything out, really. As you can see, we used several of the men on our practice squad last week. However, we also don’t know exactly when Armstead and Hargrave will return. We are aware that they have opportunities this week, so there are numerous interrelated factors that we will be talking about here for the remainder of the day and into tomorrow.
“And even if we don’t make a move in any area, that’ll probably be continuing throughout the year.”
The 49ers will take the next two days off before meeting again on Thursday. They have a challenging assignment in front of them. The Ravens have also been playing well; they have won eight of the last nine games and the last four in a row. When Shanahan and the Ravens last met up in 2019, Baltimore prevailed 20-17. The game is being played at Levi’s Stadium this time.
“Just the way they run their organization with [head coach] John [Harbaugh and the group of coaches they have there, the style that they play to, you always know what you’re going to get from their team,” Shanahan stated in reference to expectations for the Week 16 matchup. I know that hasn’t changed, even if we haven’t played them in a while. They have the same quarterback, who will always be a major problem, and you can always see them on tape and in their stats.
“I know it’s a number of years later, and there’s a bunch of different guys out there, but the style is going to be, to me, extremely similar.”
In addition, Shanahan provided an early scouting report on Lamar Jackson, the quarterback for the Ravens, saying, “Everyone knows how elite of a runner he is when I just watch him on crossover tape and stuff like that.” Although he has always been a very talented thrower, I believe that he has a fantastic eye for the field. Whether he’s scrambling it off-schedule or it’s in the pocket and rhythm, he has a fantastic knack of finding the gaps in the defense.
He only needs to make a constant decision about whether to murder you with his legs or his arm—both of which are excellent options for him. He poses such a challenge because of this.
